Water in the Soul, Air in the Heart
by Kirameki Nella
Summary: Allen Walker is a rare, silver-finned mermaid and although Cross, his master, had told him several times to never go to the surface, Allen couldn't help but disobey him when he reads a book about the human world. There, he finds a beautiful man named Lavi and the most beautiful land he's ever seen and nice people. Now, Allen can't help but keep coming back for more. Laven.
1. Chapter 1

**I really love AUs so this will be my first one on here :3 This story is most definitely going to be Laven so I hope you like that pairing otherwise LEAVE MY PRESENCE YOU SICK MON-I mean, please leave quietly :) I do not own D. Gray-man and never will. Now, onto the story~**

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"Master...what does it look like on the surface?"

Allen Walker was a mermaid. Unlike in fairytales, mermaids were different from mermen. Mermen actually lived underwater with webbed feet and fingers; however, mermaids had fish tails and their fingers weren't webbed at all. He was only around the age of ten at the moment, just now recovering from his father's death. He had snow white hair, mercury eyes, and a pale composure. His tail was the most silver as a mermaid's could get, which made him extremely unique; it was so silver it looked white. The only thing that stood out among his grayscale appearance was the crimson red scar that ran down the left side of his face. Had there not been an arm band on his left arm, it would have been colored black with an extremely unique design on his shoulder.

Allen Walker was a pretty special mermaid-the prince, in fact. However, he was framed for a terrible crime he had not committed and was banished from the kingdom to live with Marian Cross-a mermaid who was also banished from the kingdom. Unlike Allen, Cross' tail was a golden color and he had tanned skin. His flowing red hair stopped around his shoulders and he had red eyes. Or at least one red eye, Allen had never seen the right half of his master's face due to the fact it was covered by some mysterious white mask. Allen didn't dare ask about it though. He learned not to ask about a lot of private things...

"It's a horrible place." His master finally answered his question after being quiet for awhile. Due to his silence, Allen inwardly questioned whether he was lying or not. He had heard it was forbidden to go to the surface due to the dangerous beasts called humans; but when Allen had read in a book somewhere, he found that humans were like merpeople, except they cooked the fish they ate and their feet and hands were not webbed unlike mermen's.

Allen's curiosity would get the better of him sooner or later.

It had been six years later that Allen had happened to stumble upon an old book while he was cleaning out his master's room. The man had been gone for a few days and supposedly he wouldn't be back for a few more. Allen looked around just in case and opened the book. Inside the book he found out all types of things on the surface. He read about forests, cities, humans, animals, and even types of social statuses the humans had. Allen was so intrigued with the idea...he just _had_ to know what was up there. After a few hours of reading, Allen made up his mind and closed the book before gently putting it back where he found it. He turned all the light corals off and proceeded to swim as high up as he could. It was a bit weird, but it almost seemed like the higher he swam, the more weight was released from within him. His swimming pace increased and he felt so free as he neared the surface. He paused for a moment before surfacing his head above water and drinking in the oxygen found above him. It was delicious...

Allen looked around and spotted a castle sitting near the shore. Everything around him was so beautiful-even the book made everything seem dull. The castle was huge and built out of stone. In the book, Allen had read that usually kings, queens, princes, and princesses sometimes lived there...that or they were abandoned. The sun was so bright, but Allen didn't mind. To him, it just made everything shine. The sand underneath the water connected with the shore of the land. Didn't that mean that merpeople and humans were meant to see each other? They had a similar environment to the merpeople except they just had more...in fact, Allen used to live in a kingdom too like these people did...that was until he was banished...

"Woo!" Allen heard a shout and nearly swam back underwater from fright. He decided to stay calm and search for the sound where the shout came from. That's when he saw it...

...the most beautiful being he'd ever laid eyes on.

Gathering the details from the book, Allen could only conclude that it was a human. Just like his master's, the human had uncontrollable red hair, shorter, but still enough to be considered a handful to deal with. He had a single green eye that shone emerald in Allen's eyes. His right eye was covered by a black patch, which led Allen to think all red haired people covered their right eye. His red hair was held out of his face by a bandana and he seemed to have golden rings hanging from his ears. He was topless, only wearing shorts on his bottom. As Allen learned, most humans wore tops and bottoms and then things on their feet called 'shoes.' Allen was completely mesmerized by the human, who looked as if he was having a lot of fun riding the waves on a chunk of wood. That didn't even _look_ possible. Maybe it was because he was a mermaid...

"Yo, Lavi! We've gotta go!" Allen looked over to the new voice. This man was shirtless as well, wearing the same kind of clothes as...Lavi, was it? _Such a perfect name..._Allen thought longingly. He then shook his head and quickly bolted underwater.

_What was I thinking? I can't be up here with this human! Master Cross said that they'd kill me if they knew what I was...but wait...what if they _didn't _know what I was? What if they thought I was human? _A plan started foiling in Allen's mind and he figured that maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to befriend this Lavi and this other man. Allen slowly rose back up to the surface. Said other man wasn't as attractive as Lavi. He had short brown hair and purple streaks down below his eyes. _I wonder if he has merman in him..._Allen wondered. Some mermen had odd qualities and unique birthmarks. Allen gasped when the man started looking over and ducked underwater. He could still hear their conversation from below with his sensitive hearing. Okay, so maybe Allen wasn't as sure about going through with his plan...maybe he should just stay out of sight for now...

"Whats up, Daisya?" Lavi asked.

"...nothing...I swore I just saw...oh never mind let's go before you're late!" Allen slowly surfaced to see Lavi riding the waves back to the shore with 'Daisya.' He sighed and ducked underwater again, swimming over to the pier where a red, black, and white lighthouse could be seen. He rested his arms on the pier and stared at the large building with awe.

"Yes, Friday Lavi is busy so we'll have to reschedule his appointment." Allen once again had to duck underwater quickly when he saw an old human with dark circles around his eyes walking towards him.

"Is something wrong, sir?" A man in dark clothes and some sort of necklace thing asked. _Shoot, did he see me?_

"No, it's nothing." The old man replied simply and walked to the edge of the pier, staring into the water. Allen stared back and was a bit unsure if the man could see him. Allen gave the old man one last look and swam off somewhere else. He still wanted to explore this place. He didn't want to go back underwater yet...it was too dark down there compared to the human world.

Allen didn't know how long he had swam until he came to some kind of port. The port had all sorts of shops around it, some were even close to the water; most likely for ships that were just passing through. Allen didn't know what kind of money the humans used though so he couldn't really buy anything anyways. He was a bit nervous coming here since everyone that seemed to catch a glimpse at him would stare at him for a long time with wonder. _Do they already know what I am? Do humans have that type of power? _Allen wondered suspiciously.

"Mama, look at that boy, he's so pretty!" Allen heard a child and brought himself to look over. The child was actually pointing at _him. _Why would someone think he was pretty? Didn't he look different compared to these humans? The more he looked around, he saw that the humans had quite plain hair colors like brown, black, light yellow, and orange. He didn't see any colors like pink or red or purple. He did notice that only old humans would have white hair..._I wonder what that means..._Allen needed to find some type of book store...but then...how was he supposed to read human books? The paper would just get all soggy and rip...

"Hey, you there!" Allen flinched at the loud voice and looked around. He spotted an old man running over to him and prepared to swim away. "Wait, don't go! Have you been scuba diving?" The man asked desperately. Allen tilted his head to the side curiously. "You know, going underwater to fetch pearls?" He asked. "They're worth quite a lot in this town..." He informed. _Pearls are worth a lot here? They don't cost very much underwater unless they're big..._Allen thought.

"A little bit..." Allen lied. He _did _fancy pearls-all sorts and sizes. He didn't mind how big they were or what color, he just thought they were beautiful. He even crafted his own necklaces sometimes...he usually didn't know what to do with them though. Allen approached the shore with much caution and propped his hands up on the deck, laying his head on his arms in curiosity. "Why?" He asked.

"Oh...well...I figured you don't live around here since you seemed so amazed with the town and everything...so that means you live on a small island out there, right?" Allen nodded his head. "So you dive a lot then? Well, if you don't mind parting with some of your pearls, I can show you my shop. Really, it's nothing but books, but I figured someone like you, living in an isolated place, would be interested, no?" The man asked.

"Books?" Allen's face brightened. He'd give anything to read more about these humans and the different lands here.

"Yeah! It's on the port too, did you want to see it?" The man asked nicely. "I also sell paintings here as well if you want to take a look at those. It's nothing too special, but some of them are waterproof too." The man walked along the port and Allen followed him. "My name is Froi. Froi Tiedoll, but most people just call me Master Tiedoll." This Tiedoll man chuckled. "In fact, I used to serve in a great war many years ago so some of them even call me General. Anyways, what's your name?" Tiedoll asked.

"Allen...Allen Walker." Allen said.

"Walker, huh? Sounds familiar but I can't say I know your family. That's okay though, since you live in an isolated place." _This man is nice to talk to...are all humans this nice? Maybe not...maybe Master just ran into bad ones..._Allen thought. He stopped swimming when Tiedoll stopped walking. "Here we are." Allen looked from the old man to where they stopped at and his eyes lit up with amazement. There were piles of books everywhere.

"Oh...wow..." Allen said with awe and stared at them longingly. He looked to Tiedoll gratefully. "I'm sorry, I don't have any right now, but I'll definitely come back later!" Allen chirped. Tiedoll chuckled at him.

"How can I guarantee you'll come back?" Tiedoll asked. Allen hummed in thought.

"How...oh! I've got it!" Allen smiled and took the necklace around his neck. It was one he had made of his own. The shark tooth on the necklace was the one of the first shark Mana had taught him how to slay. It also had two pearls on either side of it. "It's really important to me so I'll definitely come back for it." Allen smiled warmly. Tiedoll raised his eyes in surprise.

"You're trusting me with it?" Tiedoll asked. Allen nodded.

"To make sure I come back. You can't break it though..." Allen warned.

"Such a trusting and kind person...there needs to be more people like you in the world." Tiedoll complimented. Allen blushed lightly...having a _human _tell him this...it was nice. All merpeople knew who he was and they hated him for nothing. It was a nice change to have someone say nice things about him. _If only I could live here..._Allen thought somberly.

"Thank you...I must be going now! See you later!" Allen waved goodbye and swam along the port to see many more shops. There were all kinds of shops...Allen had even been offered to try food for free, which he complimented the chef greatly. Some of them seemed _happy _to give him food. He even had a couple of children come over and try to play small games with him like where the pebble was in three different cups.

_Maybe the human world isn't so bad after all. _Allen thought on his way home from the shop. He made sure to catch some fish and clams along the way. No matter what setting they were in, mermaids could always catch fish. The nets they used were embedded into their skin. The only difficult part was making the holes as small as possible and the color. Allen wished that he was born with a blue tail so that the net color wasn't so obvious-but he supposed it was better than Cross' net, who's tail was golden. This was probably the reason why Cross made him catch fish most of the time. He also couldn't wait to open up all the clams. He knew 75% of the clams would be empty, but he wanted some nice pearls to give to that kind old man.

Allen clicked on the light corrals, which were infused with his Master's magic; he was still too 'young' to use magic in Cross' eyes though so the guardian never taught him how. He'd probably learn by himself one of these days...back at the kingdom he heard of child prodigies that taught themselves how to use magic when they were only five...Allen wasn't really anything special though. He may have been the prince once in his lifetime, but that didn't mean he was special. Mana knew a lot of magic, and only taught him how to use his left arm to hunt sharks. Truthfully, Mana had adopted him since he had a feeling that he was going to die soon...and even after he died three years later, Allen was banished out of his own home and Cross took him in.

The silver-finned teen sat down on a soft sponge cushion and laid his back of fish next to him. The fish were all squirming around and Allen felt quite spineless when he would have to rip their skeletons out of their mouth to kill them instantly...at least they didn't suffer for long. Still, it was quite a messy and tedious deed, which was why he liked it when Cross cooked the fish using his magic. That way, Allen didn't have to deal with the scent of blood floating around his house. The blood would sometimes attract sharks which was why Allen barely ate in his own house. Today was different though, he was quite tired from all that swimming and figured that he needed a rest as he ate.

Allen was quite stuffed after he finished up all the fish. Now it was time for a little snack. He stared at the clams greedily and snapped them open one by one, eating the meat that was inside of them. He found quite a few beautiful pearls. Some of them were just a plain white, but that didn't mean they weren't beautiful. All in all, he found ten white pearls, seven pinkish pale ones, a blue one, and quite an extraordinary rainbow one. It was quite large and looked really expensive if he sold it in the kingdom. Usually he could find someone to sell it for him since he wasn't allowed and paid them extra, but he had a feeling that the humans needed it more. Allen smiled and laid on the couch, satisfied with all he had found.

He couldn't keep still that night, choosing to swim back and forth endlessly until he exhausted himself. He couldn't find any other way to fall asleep. He was too excited to go to town tomorrow again and see Tiedoll...and maybe even Lavi. After he was quite tired from swimming around, Allen laid comfortably on his bed. It was made of sponge, which made him wonder what humans' beds were made of. He also started thinking about what would happen if anyone found out that he went to the surface...he'd definitely be punished...but would he really? He was already banished from the kingdom, so did it even matter? The only merpeople he saw were usually from a different kingdom or town and were just passing through Allen's little cabin. Allen sighed and thought about all the wonders of the humans above. He thought about the old man at the bookstore and the children that played with him.

He would definitely be going back tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Much thanks to Yo' Wusband, xXlovinlavenXx, ScytheMeisterA, Allen WalkerCrown Clown, Guess W.H.O. (troll much?), and Will of the Abyss - AllenxRoad for reviewing! ^-^ Warning: this chapter is going to end with a cliffhanger! (I warned you guys so be ready)**

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Allen woke up feeling mildly refreshed. He'd never felt so relaxed in his entire life. Instead of his usual loneliness, he actually felt like he was in a really good mood today. It could be the fact that he was going to buy books today. He'd probably even buy a few paintings. Allen hummed in thought, wondering where he could store all the books he would buy. He swam over to a certain patch of sand and started digging. He stored all his pearls somewhere safe so Cross wouldn't try and steal them for that weird liquid stuff he drinks and mermaids that sold themselves to others. He didn't quite get it but supposed that Cross just liked to have a lot of attention. Allen hummed in thought and emitted the substance from his tail to make a little bag to carry his pearls in. He created a strap too and zoomed out the door after he filled it up.

Along the way, he grabbed a few fish for breakfast and a few clams. He resurfaced the water and let out a shout when a board nearly collided with his head. He swam in the other direction and resurfaced to see what had attempted to knock his head off. He was stunned speechless when he saw that it was the beautiful human from yesterday...what was his name again? Lavi? Lavi also seemed stunned and fell from loss of balance off his board. He gasped for air when he came out of the water and clung to his surf board for dear life.

"What the hell was that...?" He wondered aloud and looked around, his eyes landing on Allen, who was staring at him with awestruck eyes. "Oh...where did you come from?" Lavi asked. Allen wasn't able to reply in time and Lavi chuckled at his speechlessness. He also found himself quite taken aback by Allen's beauty. He'd never seen anyone quite like Allen. Lavi used his hands to paddle his board near Allen's form. "My name's Lavi, what's your name?" Allen looked down at Lavi's hand and nervously shook it.

"Allen..." He answered quietly.

"Allen...as in Allen Walker?" Lavi guessed. He didn't think he'd be right until he saw the look of surprise on Allen's face. Allen blinked a few times.

"How...did you know that?" Allen asked questioningly.

"Oh? So you came back after all?" Lavi smiled brightly. "General Tiedoll told me about you. I honestly didn't think I'd get to meet you though." Lavi informed.

"Oh..." Allen said quietly. He didn't mean for his voice to be so quiet, he just couldn't raise it up for some reason...why was he so nervous anyways? Was he afraid of Lavi? No, that didn't sound right...

"I guess you're on your way then?" Lavi asked.

"Oh! Yes, but I need to head somewhere else first." Allen answered.

"Where are you going?"

"Um...I don't know exactly yet..." Allen replied back shamefully. He just needed to find a nearby island that Cross wouldn't find to store all the books he bought from Tiedoll...maybe he could even build his own sand-house underwater and attach it to the island. Was that possible? It didn't matter, Allen would do it anyways...even if it was forbidden, Allen wanted to be the first mermaid to be friends with the humans.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll talk to you later. I was just on my way back to the palace when I almost hit you. You literally appeared out of nowhere though!" Lavi laughed. "I thought you were a shark or something!" Allen smiled a bit, not knowing whether he should laugh or not. If he was Lavi and _he _thought someone was a shark, he'd be scared to death. He hated sharks.

Allen, sadly, bid Lavi farewell and started swimming in the direction of the port. He swam the opposite direction for what seemed like miles and found a small island the size of a large rock. _Hm...maybe I can build more onto the island if I run out of space...oh! But it can't look like an actual house...if I did that someone might steal my books! _Allen nodded his head and decided what his plans would be for today. He looked around cautiously before pushing himself onto the edge of the island and weaving a large bag to fit books in...he wouldn't want to get his books wet, would he? Allen attached the larger bag beside his smaller one and plopped himself back in the water to go swimming towards the port. He resurfaced when he ran into the wall of the port and shook the water from his hair, liking the way his skin felt when it was dry.

"Oh! You're here! I really wasn't sure whether you'd come back or not!" Allen looked over and saw Tiedoll. He smiled in greeting and swam over to the man.

"Of course I'd come back!...um, I brought some pearls if you want them. But I need my necklace back first." Allen explained. Tiedoll nodded and reached in his pocket and gave it to Allen.

"Why of course! I even polished it for you! Those are some beautiful pearls you have on the string." Tiedoll said with a smile. "Take a look at all I've got. Everything is for sale!" Tiedoll said with a smile. Allen nodded brightly and started scanning the book titles with his eyes. He figured that some of these were fairy tales by the titles. A certain one about the history of mermaids caught his eye. He picked out all kinds of historic books and even added the mermaid book to his collection. Tiedoll didn't seem to be suspicious of him at all. What he _was _curious about though was Allen's bag. "Well, what do we have here?" Tiedoll asked and crouched to take a look at Allen's bag as he emptied the water out of it and wove it quite wildly to dry the inside.

"Um...a bag..." Allen answered simply. Tiedoll laughed at Allen's plain answer.

"It doesn't seem to be soaked and dries easily..." Tiedoll observed and touched the bag. It was really smooth and soft. "Is it waterproof?" Allen nodded his head. "Really? You could probably sell these if you wanted to." Tiedoll said with a smile. Allen simply shrugged. Allen put the books in his bag and took out his small bag full of pearls. He gave it an uncertain stare. Tiedoll chuckled at Allen's confusion. "Here, I'll help you. Let me see here." Tiedoll opened his eyes and nearly let out a gasp when he saw how many beautiful pearls were inside. He looked from the bag to Allen. "These must have taken forever to find." _Not really, it just took a _lot _of clams. _Allen answered in his head. He was pretty sure finding so many clams wasn't normal for humans though and simply nodded his head. Tiedoll took out a few and handed the bag back to Allen.

"Oh, wait! I like that!" Allen gasped when he saw a painting of an underwater kingdom. It reminded of his castle back at home. There were small mermaids swimming all around the palace though Allen couldn't find any mermen among the group. He still loved it though. It made his heart ache when he thought about all his neighbors and friends back home.

"Really? Most people don't think that's what a mermaid kingdom would look like. They say it's too beautiful to belong to mermaids." Tiedoll mumbled sadly. _Too beautiful? But the kingdom is much more larger than that..._Allen gave Tiedoll a puzzled look.

"Why would they say that?" Allen questioned innocently. Tiedoll gave him a somber smile.

"You'll know what I mean when you read that book I bought you. It's so sad, really. Mermaids are such beautiful beings, it's too bad they're so dangerous."

_Dangerous? _

"Oh...okay..." Allen replied uncertainly and strapped the small bag to his belt. He smiled and waved Tiedoll goodbye, eager to get started on building his dream house. He didn't want it to be too big or anything, he just wanted a nice collection of beautiful paintings and books. He wanted it to be underwater, but he wanted it to be like an actual human home. After a few minutes of vigorous swimming, he found the house he was looking for. He threw his stuff on the island and dove underwater to get started.

Allen didn't know how long he'd been working on the small little house he started to build. All he knew that when he was finished with it, the sun had long since gone down and he was feeling like he just swam a marathon. Not to mention his arms were burning. He felt as if he did a pretty good job. It turned out a bit more bigger than he expected, but he enjoyed the homey feel of it. There was just one problem now...there were no lights and he needed to somehow get the water out of it. Allen didn't know any magic, so how would he be able to make light corals like Cross did? He could always find those bugs that lit up that he read about in a book...but they would only last so long, not to mention they needed oxygen. Perhaps it was time to ask Cross to teach him some magic...if he ever came back.

Speaking of coming back, it was starting to get late and Allen figured he should go home now. Allen buried his bags in a pile of sand and started to head back to the house he and Cross stayed at. Along the way, he caught some clams for dinner and stocked the pearls he found in his small bag. When he got home, of course, he was alone. He expected to be anyways. Though it'd be nice if Cross came back every once in awhile. Allen was really starting to feel lonely with no one there. Sure, Cross could be frustrating, but at least he was someone Allen could talk to. Allen still feared what would happen if someone had ever found out that he went to the surface, it's forbidden after all.

As Allen laid in his bed, he tossed and turned. He just couldn't sleep, he felt too restless for that. Allen sighed and decided that he'd read a book to help him fall asleep. He swam out of the house, taking a light coral with him. It was a bit dark and hard to figure out where he was. It was probably about an hour before he reached a shallow end in the water. Curious, Allen peeked his head out of the water and found that he was near the shoreline. There was a large tower that was spinning a light around near him. Looking around, Allen finally understood that he was on the shore of Lavi's castle. Shaking his head, Allen left back into the water, knowing exactly where he was going this time.

Allen sighed with relief when he finally made it to his little house. He climbed up on the small island and sorted through all the books he had buried safely in the sand. He came across the mermaid one and paused for a moment. _It's so sad, really. Mermaids are such beautiful beings, it's too bad they're so dangerous. _Tiedoll's words from before moved him to bring the book into his arms. He opened the page in the middle and almost screamed when he saw the picture there. It was a creature with an evil look on it's face, a wide grin stretching out it's face...what surprised Allen the most...it had a mermaid tail. Allen felt his heart thundering against his chest as he scanned through the article quickly.

_The Dangers Lurking In The Waters_

_True, mermaids are from fairy tales, and are said to be beautiful, but there is another part of them that people don't know about. It's rare to see a mermaid in sight and there is only one reason for that: it is forbidden for mermaids to reach the surface. Usually mermaids who come up to greet the humans come up for one reason: blood lust. They want to lure humans to their deaths with the sounds of their beautiful voices. Fish, clams, sharks, and other sea food is just not enough for these bloodthirsty creatures. Mermaids want human flesh, for once they've said that human flesh tastes wonderful. Can you imagine? A beautiful creature right in front of you turning into something so monstrous in the blink of an eye? Don't fall for any mermaid you see, male or female. They _will _kill you. They are heartless creatures and they won't hesitate into tricking you. These monstrosities must be hunted down and killed. It is said that their blood can heal wounds and their tears can heal diseases. Their scales sparkle with such beautiful light; these mutated creatures don't deserve such beauty. These beings are more dangerous than sharks. More dangerous than a Kraken itself. _

_They must be eradicated. _

Allen couldn't help but let out a screech before throwing the book aside. He wouldn't stand for it. He _couldn't _stand for it. These people knew _nothing _about them...unless...did mermaids really do this to people? Was this the reason why humans hated mermaids so much? Was it their fault in the first place for attacking the humans? Allen needed answers, but where could he find them? Allen looked back at the book and slowly crawled over to it. He closed his eyes at the frightening picture of the mermaid and quickly flipped to the back. In the bottom left was a tiny, cursively scrawled name: _Anita. _Allen tried to read the last name but it was smudged. Allen closed the book and curiosity led him to read the back of the book, where a summary lay.

_By reading this book, you will learn all different things about mermaids: their cultures, their religions, their children, their eating habits, and even their special powers. You think that mermaids are lovely mythical creatures? Think again. After reading this book, you'll never feel the same way about these nasty creatures again. Learn ways to catch these dreadful beings, and learn how they can affect you. Mermaids aren't just from fairy tales, they're real; and you'll never guess what kind of fairy tale they've been living until you read. Happy reading! _

_Happy reading? Is this some kind of sick joke? That's it, I need to find this Anita person...she must have all the answers for me! But...the human world is huge...not as huge as the underwater world, but it's still pretty big...how will I ever be able to find her? _Allen wondered as he flipped through the pages for some sort of address of some kind. If he could learn how humans write to each other and deliver mail, he could just use that address that is given here somewhere...somewhere...if he could find the address to begin with...

"Hey! Who's there?!" Allen yelped and quickly buried his books before diving underwater. He looked up from where he dove to see a large ship overhead. _These monstrosities must be hunted down and killed. _Allen's heart beat so fast he thought it would explode from his chest. Did these people see him? Were they here to hunt him down?

"What's up, brother?" Allen heard one of them aboard the ship ask. It was a human girl. Allen didn't know how old she was. She had long dark green hair and she looked quite tired. _It is pretty late...I wish I would've just gone to sleep! _Allen scolded himself for being so restless. The person who called at him at first had shoulder length purple hair and wore a white coat of some kind with a white hat on his head.

"Hey, Lenalee...what do you think about mermaids?" The man asked.

"Aren't they just myths, brother?" The girl yawned. "You should just go to sleep..."

"We're almost to the port, Lenalee, wake everyone up." The man said. The girl sighed and walked off. The man stared down into the water and Allen was so scared he could see him. He held his hand over his mouth to silence any sounds he made.

"Yo, Komui, what's up?" A tired man with spiky blond hair asked. The one named 'Komui' kept staring into the water.

"Is that...?" He muttered to himself, leaning over the water.

"What? You see something?" Reever asked, rubbing his eyes. Is it a shark?

"No...it's nothing..." Komui stood straight up and walked away from the edge. "We should hurry up and go. We're almost there, there's no need to stop now. Port Black Order needs our research! That's what us scientists must deliver!" Reever sweat dropped at the man's ecstatic attitude. How can this guy be so tired during the day and so excited during the night? Allen swam over to the ship and curiously followed it. He then noticed a light coming from his left and looked over to see the sun rising. _I've stayed up all night...maybe I should sleep the day off today..._Allen thought as he followed the ship.

"Good evening, Komui!" Tiedoll called as the ship docked. Allen watched from afar as the man shook hands. Reever came out and gave Tiedoll some books. Tiedoll nodded his thanks to him and greeted Lenalee with a smile. _These are...nice people? Even though they are on a ship...Master said that the most dangerous people are on a ship...and if they're in white coats it's extremely bad...then why is Tiedoll their friend? Was Master lying? _Allen wondered and shook his head. Cross would never lie to him, would he. Allen stiffened when Tiedoll and his eyes met. "Well you're here quite early!" Komui turned around and looked over in Allen's direction. He then looked at Tiedoll for an explanation.

"Who is this boy?"

"Oh, that's Allen. He comes to the port often to buy books from me. He's quite a nice young lad. Come here, Allen, let me introduce you to some of my friends." Allen inwardly sighed and swam over to where they were. "Allen, this is Komui, Lenalee, and Reever. You can meet the rest of the scientists on board this ship if you like." Tiedoll said and gestured to the ship. Allen cursed his luck. Tiedoll noticed his uncomfortable shifting and smiled. "They're not mean people, I swear." Tiedoll smiled warmly. He then frowned and wondered if Allen was feeling well. "Allen...did you read that book I gave you...about the mermaids?" Tiedoll asked softly. Allen couldn't help but let tears flow out of his eyes.

He was a monster to these people.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks bunchest to xXlovinlavenXx, Andune Carnesir, VeridianSoul, OtakuShipping, Hanashi o suru, Will of the Abyss - AllenxRoad (have I ever mentioned how much I love your reviews? They make me laugh xD), Usagi-Twins, greenwings33, XxXFoxieXxX, and Eternal Happiness for reviewing! This story is slowly starting to progress and I love all your reviews! x3 Without further adieu, here's the next chapter! I do not own D. Gray-man! (P.S. if you'd like for me to reply to your reviews say so because I'm really unsure if I should or not since it takes up more words in the story Dx)**

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Tiedoll was astounded by Allen's reactions. Surely he didn't see the book as that bad right? It was really just warning them from the mermaids...then again, Allen was always in the water and he always swam around, so perhaps he was scared? The market-owner was clueless as what to do and looked over at his friend, Komui. He used to sail around the seas with this man until that war started. After it ended, Tiedoll left the sea but Komui still stayed on that ship, surely _he'd _know what to do. However, Komui was looking at Allen with a curious yet suspicious eye. He slowly looked over from the sobbing mermaid over to Tiedoll with a very serious expression. Tiedoll had never seen such a serious expression on the scientists face.

"General Tiedoll...have you ever seen this boy out of the water?" Komui asked seriously. Tiedoll gave Komui a puzzled look and looked over at Allen. It was then that realization hit him. _No way...it couldn't be..._Tiedoll slowly shook his head. Komui neared the water and Allen instantly swam away from him, afraid of what he might pull. Komui sat down and made no move to come near him. "I see. Say, boy...you're...a mermaid aren't you?" Komui asked. Allen swam away backwards. "I'm not going to hurt you." Komui reassured. "Why don't you come over here?" Allen shook his head at the question. Tiedoll meanwhile sighed and sat down on a chair Lenalee had taken from the ship. She grumbled at him quietly before leaving to the ship to unload some more.

"Well I'll be, _you _were a mermaid? I guess that does explain why you don't come out of the water." Tiedoll was conversing more with himself than with Allen; although, his mindless mutterings did bring comfort to the silver-tailed creature. Allen had expected them to bring out some kind of weapon and try to attack him with it. The book _did _say that he needed to be hunted down and stripped of his blood, tears, and scales. Tiedoll seemed to think differently though. "It's the first time I've seen one...and to think that I never would've known! Although I am a bit curious...why did you trust me so much?" Tiedoll asked. Allen's tears subsided for now and he simply avoided eye contact, shrugging. Komui looked between the two and sighed himself.

"You know, I'm a scientist. Honestly I must be a failure of one." He laughed to himself. Both Tiedoll and Allen looked at him with curiosity. "If I were a true scientist, I probably would have tried to capture you by now. I think what I'd want most for now...is to just be friends. I want to know _more _about you...but I don't want to dissect you to learn. So...what do you say?" Komui offered. Allen wiped at his tears and looked away, unsure about Komui's propositions. "You don't have to answer now. I have plenty of time, but if you do, come to the harbor and ask for me." Komui stood up and reached for something out of his pocket. He took out a small pendant with a purple K etched onto it and threw it to Allen. Allen caught it and stared at it, awestruck by the shining beauty of it.

"To be honest, Allen, I think you can trust him. I'm not sure if you trust me after reading something so gruesome...but you seem different than the mermaids in that book. Do you mind if we talk about your race?" Tiedoll flashed him a smile. "You're always welcome here." Allen couldn't help but give a small smile back. He swam closer and Tiedoll smiled wider. Komui sat down on another chair Lenalee sat down and she huffed this time as she passed by, carrying a box.

"Brother! You're supposed to be helping unpack!" She scolded. He waved her off for the first time in his life.

"Yeah, I know Lenalee, but this is important!" Komui insisted. She rolled her eyes and murmured something about fetching Kanda. Allen bravely swam as close as he could get and laid his arms on the wood of the harbor.

"So? Do you talk with many mermaids?" Tiedoll asked. "What's it like where you live? Is there a kingdom?" He added. Allen shook his head.

"I..." He started, giving Komui a wary stare. "I don't live with the other mermaids. Actually..." Allen trailed off a bit sadly. "I was banished from the kingdom." Both eyebrows of the men shot up with surprise.

"Banished?" Komui questioned. "What did you do?"

"I...didn't do anything. I was...hmm...well Master says I was framed." Allen informed.

"Framed? For what?" Tiedoll was the one to ask the questions this time.

"For murdering my father." Allen said quietly. "I didn't though." He sighed and laid his head down. "There were thieves in the palace and they tried to kill me too."

"Palace? You lived in a palace?" Komui asked intently. Allen nodded.

"My father was the king." Both of the adults gasped.

"So you were a prince?"

"I guess you could say that...I was adopted though so I guess they didn't trust me so much..." Allen said. "After I was kicked out, someone else who was also kicked out took me in. I don't live far from here-or well I don't think I do. I live around that palace over there." Allen pointed to the large castle from where he first laid eyes on that beautiful redhead.

"You live near Prince Lavi?" Tiedoll asked with mild curiosity. "Have you spoken to him yet?"

"Yep, he knew my name from you; or at least that's what he told me." Allen answered.

"What did you two talk about?" Komui intervened.

"Nothing much really...I think I scared him though." Allen said absentmindedly. "Or at least that's what he told me. He laughed about it afterwards." Allen furrowed his brows in confusion, starting to wonder again how that was funny. Tiedoll chuckled.

"Yeah, Lavi is actually a good guy. There are a lot of rich people around here that you might meet and they're complete snobs. They have no respect for anyone and look down on the people who don't own as much money as they do." Tiedoll informed. Allen frowned at the information. That seemed a bit dumb, but now that he thought about it, people looked down on him whenever he was on the streets before Mana adopted him.

"Well, all those matters aside, do you have any kind of, say, special powers?" Komui asked. Allen tilted his head and hummed in response.

"Well...I haven't really been taught magic yet. Hopefully master will teach me when he comes back...if he comes back..." Allen mumbled that last part so that none of them would hear. "Oh! But I can do this..." The two males looked at him curiously, not seeing anything happening. Allen emitted the substance from his fins and held it up to the surface for them to see.

"What _is _that?!" Komui asked loudly. Allen molded the slime trough his fingers to form a net.

"I'm not really sure myself, but I know that everyone but the mermen have it. We use it to make nets, bags, houses, and other things." Allen said and molded the ingredient into a pot.

"So it dries up?" Komui asked, inspecting the pot at eye-level. Allen shook his head and squished the pot into a ball.

"Mostly we use it as nets. In order to keep it's form, we have to add in whatever we need. Well, the fins do most of the work. Usually, I just need to think about it.

"Do you mind if I touch it?" Allen thought it was a stupid question but nodded his head anyways and gave it to the scientist. Komui seemed absolutely thrilled until it really started drying up in his hands. He freaked out and dropped it in the water. Luckily, Allen caught it and it wasn't dry anymore. "Interesting...it dries above water...but when it's in water, you can morph it into whatever you want...do you mind if I keep this?" Allen shook his head. "Lenalee darling~! Can you bring me a bowl of water~?" Komui asked with a whine to his voice.

"You should at least help out if you're going to ask for things, Brother!" Despite her scolding, Lenalee ran over and brought him a bowl of water anyways, splashing some out on her way over. Komui accepted the bowl and thanked her shortly before putting the orb in the bowl. He poked at it to make sure that it still maintained it's shape. He gasped when it was as hard as a rock.

"This is tap water!" He said accusingly. Lenalee rolled her eyes.

"Of course it is, what else were you expecting? If you wanted seawater you should have said so!" Komui frowned and dipped it into the seawater. It didn't morph back like it did before.

"How odd...can you make me another one?" Komui asked politely and Allen nodded, quickly making another one and giving it to him. He dumped the tap water out and scooped up some seawater, putting both spheres in the bowl. "Thank you so much! I can't wait to study it." Komui smiled and handed it to Lenalee. Lenalee growled and stormed off. "I should probably get to work before Lenalee gets mad at me." Komui pouted. "Well, I'll leave you two to yourselves then!" He said and whisked away to go find his sister and help her unpack.

"Well, now that _he's _finally gone...want to take a look at my shop again?" Tiedoll offered. Allen nodded his head.

"I will in a bit...I need to get my things first." Allen said with a smile and waved Tiedoll goodbye before swimming off. He hurried as fast as he could to the small island a few miles away from the port and gathered all that he needed, making a bigger bag than the last one. He planned on buying some paintings from Tiedoll and putting them up in his new house. Allen swam back and looked around for the small shop that Tiedoll owned. Once he arrived, he saw the same boy that was with Lavi the first time Allen surfaced. He ducked underwater to the point where only his eyes were showing and watched Daisya closely.

"Oh, so you're here Daisya?" Allen looked over to see Tiedoll approaching the stand. Daisya looked away from his book and up at Tiedoll.

"Hm? Oh yeah." He answered shortly and started reading the book again. Both Allen and Tiedoll frowned at the book he was reading. It was the same one Allen had read before. Tiedoll wondered where Daisya got the copy of it.

"I wouldn't be reading that book, most of it is full of lies." Tiedoll said, breaking the silence. "And besides, you're ignoring a customer!" Tiedoll scolded. Daisya blinked and looked up from his book and around at the water. He dropped the book in surprise when he saw Allen lingering in the water. Tiedoll chuckled and waved a greeting. "Hello, Allen! Have you gotten your things?" Allen nodded and swam over.

"Allen? You mean that one kid that always trades you pearls instead of actual coins?" Daisya asked. Tiedoll nodded and smiled at him. Allen swam up and surfaced a bit out of the water. "So what kind of pearls do you have anyways? I've never really seen any great big ones up close." Daisya added. He seemed like a nice person since he hung out with Lavi and Tiedoll. Allen took out a small bag and set it down to show him the different types of pearls he had. Daisya gaped and got on his knees to check them out. Tiedoll chuckled and Allen smiled at his reactions. "Wow! These are amazing. Hell, I don't think I'd actually exchange them!"

"Now, now, Daisya, don't use that language in front of him!" Tiedoll scorned. Daisya rolled his eyes at his father's words.

"Pfft, he looks like my age. I'm sure he says words like that all the time." He retorted. Tiedoll looked around his shop in the back and pulled out some more paintings and books to put out. He'd been getting a lot of customers ever since Allen arrived and befriended a lot of children in the town. He really didn't expect the mermaid to have such a big impact on his marketing though. "Wow, these are so cool!" Daisya said, rolling them around with his index finger. Allen smiled and watched him play with the pearls for a little bit before wandering over to Tiedoll's shop and pointing things out that he liked.

After an exchanging of pictures and pearls, Allen was on his way back to the little island he adored. The sun was high, indicating that it was now afternoon. He was too excited at the moment to be hungry. Humans _knew _what he was and they _didn't _want to kill him or strip him of his scales! _Maybe Master Cross just met with some bad humans..._Allen concluded as he hopped up on the little island, leaving the last of his tail still in the water, occasionally flapping it whenever he read something interesting.

He read books for awhile, finishing about 3 whole ones, until he saw that the sun was starting to set. _Oh my...I haven't even had breakfast or lunch yet! Looks like I'll be eating a lot for dinner tonight...I wonder if Master is home yet. _Allen wondered as he made a huge net and started dragging it around everywhere to catch fish and clams whenever he dragged it across the bottom. He did this for about ten minutes before deciding that he had enough and rushed to the cabin him and Cross stayed in. On the way, he nipped his fin on some barbed wire. Glaring at the offending material, he continued on his way home; hopefully he wouldn't attract any sharks to the house. He felt quite a bit of suspense gather up from within him when he saw the light corrals shining on. He tied the net and cautiously swam to the cabin.

Allen's heart pounded as he made his way through the dark house. The outside was lit up, but inside it was really dark and he could barely see anything. For once in his life, Allen was glad that he didn't have feet. He would've been tripping over _everything. _He couldn't really think of any reason why anyone would want to rob them. _Maybe Master _was _here and then left when he saw I wasn't home yet? Was he going to be back later and just left the lights on by accident. _The suspense was killing him. There could be a shark around the corner and he'd never even expect.

"Oh so _now _you're home." A gruff voice growled. Allen yelped in surprise and spun around. It was still dark so Allen couldn't see anything. He clicked on the closest light corrals to him. Once the small lights flashed on, he was just barely able to make out the person in the house. He couldn't even explain how much relief was washing through him at the moment.

It was just Master Cross.

"I didn't know you were home yet." Allen replied.

"Well no shit you were off doing god knows what. Damn, I just got here and you don't even have any god damn food? What the hell is wrong with you? Isn't your stomach a black hole or something? There should at _least _be some clams in the fridge!" Cross rambled on in an edgy voice.

"I was just out fishing dinner actually." Allen informed and started to swim away. He froze when he felt his wrist snatched. He looked over at his master and noticed that his nose was scrunched up.

"You smell disgusting." Cross glowered. Allen narrowed his eyes at his master's statement.

"Excuse me? I'll have you know that I wash regularly." Allen snapped and yanked his hand away. Cross shook his head.

"Apparently not recently. Care to tell me why you smell like _humans?" _Cross asked suspiciously. For a minute there, Allen really thought he was doomed. That was then when he had an idea. There was one thing left that he could do...

...lie.

"Humans? You mean up on the surface? Why would I smell like them? I've never seen one in my entire life. You always said that the humans were dangerous and it was forbidden to go to the surface, right? Unless you were-" Allen was cut off when Cross swam low to observe Allen's fin.

"So it was this..." Allen looked down to see Cross holding the injured fin on the bottom of his tail. _That was when I scraped my tail on my way back home. That really saved my life just now..._

"Oh, that? I kinda scraped myself when I was catching fish...there was some kind of spiky net that I cut myself on...it's not going to get infected is it?" Allen asked, feigning worry.

"Not that I know of. You'll be fine. Now where's this fish you were talking about?" Allen inwardly sighed, knowing better than to think Cross had actually been worried about him.

Allen swam outside of the cabin with his eyes closed tightly in thought. He was moreover thinking about where Cross could have possibly been this entire time. He froze when he smelled the scent of blood. Opening his eyes, Allen froze when he saw the pile of fish he had caught being gnawed by about five sharks. Allen swallowed nervously and started swimming backwards slowly. Unfortunately, the blood in his fin rushed out by the movement. One of the sharks rose it's head above the feast and stared at Allen before making it's way to him. He was frozen to the spot, too terrified to move. Just when the shark was meters away from him, Allen let out a shout and swam into the house. The shark was stuck and couldn't get through the door frame...yet.

"What the hell is going on over h-holy shit!" Cross yelled and grabbed Allen to get him away from the razor sharp teeth of the shark.

"Wh-what do we do, Master?!" Allen asked frantically.

"Well this is one hell of a welcome home." He grumbled. "We get the fuck out of here. We'll come back as soon as they're gone. Right now, we need to prevent you from bleeding so much." He scowled and pulled out a pack of a dark red substance.

_Is that...blood? _

Cross took Allen's fin in his hand and squished the substance on his fin. It immediately healed and Allen gawked. It had to be some type of really rare mermaid blood...the sharks had all been attracted by the smell and were trying to all fit through the door. Cross closed the bag and put it back in his long coat before dragging Allen out of the cabin and away from the area. Allen's mind couldn't help but wander back to the bag of healing substance as he swam after Cross. In just a matter of minutes, they made it safely away from the ravaging sharks. Silence loomed over them and Allen decided to break it with the only question remaining in his mind.

"Master...what was that stuff?" Cross' answer was completely unexpected. Allen didn't know whether to feel horrified or just flat out surprise. It was an answer that only led to more questions.

"Human blood."


	4. Chapter 4

**You know what I find ironic? Sometimes people call my chapters short when it's like 500 words less and then when I look at their stories their chapters are even shorter...hmm...x3 Has this happened to anyone before or is it just me? Are you used to the chapters being this long so much that when they're not, they're now short? xD Anyways, thank you very much to Hanashi o suru (puns~ *heart because you can't use the less/more than sign on here*), greenwings33, VeridianSoul (well I don't want to make it look like the ANs are longer than the chapter x(...I think I'll just answer them in parentheses...), Will of the Abyss - AllenxRoad (omg another puuuun I love you guys~ *heart* oh and pssst, you're giving away my secret -3-), and the Usagi-Twins (my bad xD don't worry a certain _someone_ keeps on blowing it already -_-) for reviewing! I really appreciate them! ^w^**

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Millions of questions were swimming around in Allen's head as he swam alongside Cross to a safe place to stay. The main subject Allen's thoughts were surrounded on was the bag of human blood Cross had. The first question Allen had wondered about was _how _did human blood heal him? Only mermaids' blood could heal! Not to mention it was a _human's _blood. Where could Cross even have gotten human blood if he never went to the surface? Then again, how else could Cross know about the surface so much besides that book? Maybe..._was that the reason Cross was banished from the kingdom?...is it because he went to the surface? _Still, Allen found it hard to open his mouth to actually question his suspicions. _But if he had a human's blood...does that mean that he killed a human?! None of this makes any sense! _

"Master...!" Allen mumbled, resisting the urge to cover his mouth. He didn't really mean to say anything, it just slipped out.

"What?" Cross growled, agitated that they lost their home to mere sharks.

"Um..." Allen stumbled over words he wanted to say. _Think, Allen! Just ask him something else! _"...can you...teach me magic?" Allen asked innocently. Cross glanced back at Allen curiously._  
_

"Magic? Why would you want to learn that?" Cross growled.

"...so I can...cook fish like you do! It tastes better than raw fish..." Allen explained slowly. Cross gave him a suspicious stare before looking ahead of him.

"Sure, but that's all I'm teaching you." He muttered.

"And light corals?" Allen questioned.

"Yeah yeah." The man grumbled. Allen felt overjoyed at that, finally he'd be able to have his own underwater human house! He just couldn't wait! His mind wandered back to the question he was going to ask Cross before. He didn't want to make his master upset, because then he wouldn't teach him magic. So, for now, Allen put his questions on hold and followed Cross to a large rock in the water. It was so large that it protruded out of the water.

"It's...a rock." Allen stated the obvious.

"No shit." Cross replied and Allen puckered out his lips in a pout. He looked away and saw something...shiny. He looked at Cross, who was too busy observing the rock to notice, and then swam towards the shiny object. He really liked shiny things, they were just so...bright. Tilting his head to the side, he saw that the shiny object was actually a glass orb. Inside the orb were different mechanisms that flashed. Allen dug in the sand until it seemed comfy enough and sat on the cushioned sand, staring at it. "Oi, idiot apprentice, what are you doing over there?" Cross called.

"Just looking!" Allen called back and looked at the orb curiously. What was weird was that it gave off the feeling that someone was watching him. It then flashed and the merboy squeaked and ducked in his small hole. Cross gave his apprentice an odd look and shook his head, deeming Allen not-so-sane. Allen's eyes sparkled with curiosity and he poked it, quickly retreating his hand back. _What _is _it? _He wondered and crawled out of his hole to get a better look. Cross started swimming over as well and stared at the object just as curiously as Allen had.

"What the hell is it?" He asked from behind the boy, making him jump.

"I don't know..." Allen replied, poking it. Cross furrowed his eyebrows and looked farther out into the sea. Then something flashed, catching his eye. He swam over to it and saw that it was the exact same orb that Allen had found.

"What the hell...?" Cross mumbled and looked around, noticing a lot more of the orbs were spread out everywhere.

He was suspicious of these orbs indeed..._we should leave them alone...they're obviously made by humans. _Cross thought bitterly and started swimming to where Allen was at. Allen, however, thought differently and picked one up. "Put that down!" Cross scolded. Allen frowned at his master but dropped the ball. It was then that the orb flashed a blood-red color and something came out of it, enveloping Allen in the substance. He shrieked and Cross swam over as quickly as he could, pulling out a knife to slash the net. He quickly cut Allen loose and said mermaid swam as far as possible away from the object. He watched as Cross started to draw a line in the sand.

"Stay as far away as possible from this line and don't go past it!" He commanded. Allen nodded his head at Cross' words; although, he was still curious about the orbs. What was their purpose? Cross watched as his pupil stupidly found entertainment of swimming around the rock, most likely determining how wide it was. Allen then paused and looked up, gaping at how tall the rock was. He couldn't help but stare up at the surface with curiosity. What if the rock was even bigger outside of the water? Allen felt the urge to climb up on the rock. The man sighed and swam over. "If you're that curious, then go." He murmured. Allen blinked and looked down from the surface at Cross.

"Hm?" He hummed.

"Don't play dumb, I know you want to look. I'm just warning you...don't get too involved with those humans." Cross said and touched the rock as well. Allen resisted the urge to smile and looked up, slowly swimming towards the surface. He paused at the very top and started to wonder if the air was different from the air that he had breathed from before. What if the air over here was exposed to some sort of toxin? Just in case, Allen lifted his hand out of the water.

Nothing happened.

Cross snorted with amusement at Allen's hesitance. _He was already banished from his kingdom. He can't possibly be punished any worse than he has been. _Cross told himself. His breath hitched in his throat when Allen had actually swam through the surface. He would never admit it, especially in front of the brat, but he really did care for him; even if Allen was an ignorant brat, he still cared. The boy had served as some sort of company over the years; Cross had been so alone when he was first banished from the kingdom and even more so after _that _incident. Allen took away a bit of the loneliness Cross felt in his heart and the mermaid was sure that Allen had even saved his ass a few times.

"Eh, Allen? What are you doing over here?" Allen stiffened when he heard Komui's voice. He looked over to see that the scientist was in a small boat. He looked down at the water and put a finger over his lips. Komui gave the boy a bizarre look, but didn't question Allen's actions. Allen swam towards the huge rock and around it curiously. His lungs felt so much more freer on the surface... "What is he up to? Why won't he talk to me?" Komui questioned himself. He started to slowly paddle over to the boy, who was curiously touching the rock. Then he felt like something was...off. He looked down below him and recognized a red figure swimming beneath him. "What the...?" He pondered. Whatever the animal was, it was headed straight for Allen.

"It's not as big as I thought it'd be..." Allen whispered to himself. He still wanted to climb on top of it though. The next thing he knew, he felt a hard tug on his fin and squeaked, being pulled underwater. Looking down, he felt relieved to see that it was just Cross. "What's wrong, Master?" Allen asked.

"Did you not see that human up there?!" Cross shouted. Allen winced at his harsh tone.

"Human? What human?" Allen asked. "You mean that merman on the boat?" He added. Then he gasped as if he suddenly realized something. "Oh! That's right! merpeople don't go to the surface! But...he looked just like us...why is that?" Allen wondered the last part honestly. Why _did _humans look like merpeople? Cross shook his head and swam away, directing Allen to come with him. Allen sent the shadow of the boat a longing glance before following his master to the base of the rock. There, he had found that Cross had carved out a small cave. How? Allen had no idea. Allen took shelter inside the rock and found that it was oddly cold. Cross seemed to think the same thing.

"What I'm about to do is what I'm going to teach you. Doing this helps you...cook in a way." Cross explained. Allen made sure to pay careful attention as Cross started inhaling a _lot _of water. Allen tilted his head and watched curiously. Then, the redhead opened his mouth and slowly blew out a...bubble. Allen's eyes widened significantly as the bubble became bigger. His jaw dropped..._that looks so amazing...how does he do that?! And how does that help with cooking? _He wondered. More questions buzzed around in his head.

"...how?" Allen muttered, staring at the large bubble floating around. Cross then pulled out a small candle holder and a candle and gently placed it inside the bubble, which seemed to be strong enough to carry the objects. Allen's interest was officially piqued. Cross then took out a small mechanism and placed his hand inside the bubble. He ran his thumb over it quickly and a small fire erupted onto the string of the candle. "...wow..." Allen said, struck with awe. At that moment, Allen felt more than a little excited to learn magic.

"It looks easy but trust me, it's not. As for the corals, that relies more on your energy, which I'll explain later. Remember, you're the one who wanted this training so don't start whining if it's too rough for you!" Cross spat. Allen nodded his head determinedly.

"I can do this!" He said, so full of determination.

_I can't do this..._

Allen thought as he gulped for air in the bubble that Cross had created for him. He had been practicing the technique for hours and he didn't even get that far. He watched as a bubble the size of a cricket floated around his head. Creating a bubble was _much _harder than it looked. Allen swore his lungs were on _fire. _He had to have Cross create a bubble because he couldn't even _breathe _anymore. A merperson's lungs functioned a little differently. Not only did they have lungs inside as human's did, but they also had gills on their necks that were covered by skin. When they were underwater, their skin would absorb the water (which was why their skin was usually really smooth) and the gills underneath the skin would filter all of the oxygen out and send it to their lungs. Even _breathing _underwater was difficult for him now.

"I never said this would be easy." Cross commented as Allen had collapsed on a sponge bed they fished out from a corral reef. Allen refrained from snapping at his master with a smart comment.

"I...know that..." Allen said hoarsely. The two of them were silent as Cross blew bubbles out of his...pipe...thing...Allen had seen a few humans with the same pipe, but smoke was coming out of theirs. _Is it any different from what Cross is doing? It's weird really...humans and merpeople are actually so much alike...so then why do we hate each other? _"Master...?" Allen murmured, breaking the silence.

"What?" Cross asked halfheartedly.

"Why...do humans hate us?" Allen asked and sat up, looking at his guardian. Cross blew out colorful bubbles and they popped in his face, giving off a _very_ disgusting smell. Allen hated it when Cross blew bubbles in his face, it was really annoying.

"Jealousy." The redhead replied. Allen raised his eyebrows curiously.

"Jealousy?" He questioned. The adult sighed and relaxed into the sponge chair he was sitting on.

"You probably won't get it. They're envious of our abilities. Humans can't perform magic, they can't breathe underwater, they're not as beautiful, and they're not as strong as us. We are superior to them, yet at the same time, we _are _them." Cross explained. Allen found him slowly tilting his head to the right.

"We...are them?" He questioned. Cross stared at Allen for a long time before closing his eye.

"When you get older, there is another type of magic a mermaid can learn. Mermaid's magic is much more powerful than a merman or merwoman's. We can use our magic to shape shift our tails into human legs. You never really know if the person you're talking to is a human or a mermaid in disguise." Allen gaped at Cross' words. Mermaids could shape shift their tails into human legs?! How could they even... "You're different though." Cross added, cutting Allen's thoughts short. Allen narrowed his eyes at the man. Was Cross keeping something from him?

"What do you mean?" Allen asked.

"Think about it, Allen. You were already banished from your own kingdom. What would be the point in telling you that you couldn't go to the surface? There is no greater punishment than being banished from the greatest merkingdom in the world. The merpeople do not believe in the death penalty like humans do. Why do you think I'd tell you to stay away from the surface?" Cross questioned, actually curious to hear Allen's question.

"Because...you said humans would kill me...and that they're dangerous." Allen replied.

"Truly, it is because you are cursed. Though really, it isn't much of a curse, moreover a gift. You remember, don't you? The night your father was murdered? Do you remember what he did to you?" Cross asked. He wasn't there when it happened, but by the look of the scar on Allen's face, he had already figured it out. Allen touched the scar on his head and averted his eyes.

"He...he...struck me..." Allen whispered. "But it was an accident, right? Wasn't he trying to strike the thieves?!" Allen asked, now panicking. Cross shook his head and sighed.

"He meant to strike you, Allen. Mana knew what would happen, he knew that you'd be framed from this. This is what he wanted...he _wanted _you to get away from the mermaids and mermen that would soon despise you. He wanted you to create a new life on the surface. That's why he cursed you. Only silver tailed mermaids know how to curse people. You were too young back then to really know what he wanted so I decided to take you in until it was time for you to go." Allen's eyes widened horrifically at Cross' explanation. "Really, in my opinion, you're lucky to have been cursed. Another advantage of your curse is that you can easily attract a human's kindness. The only downside of it is that the sharks can sense your blood and find you." Allen held his hand over his heart.

_You...wanted to free me, Mana? _

"I...am...supposed to leave...? But what about you?" Allen asked. True, Cross was tough on him like no guardian could be, but that didn't mean he didn't care for his master. Even though every time the topic was brought up, he'd think about the horrible gambling he'd have to do to earn pearls for the man...he still cared for him. He was still special and he always would be. Cross chuckled, bringing Allen out of his thoughts.

"Why are you asking me that?" Cross questioned and swam away. "I can understand if you'd want to leave now that you know...but I wanted to train you before you left on your own." He muttered.

"Master..." Allen mumbled with awe. His master could really be a kind person sometimes...then realization hit Allen like a brick wall. "You...you've been to the surface, haven't you?" Allen asked. "Why...why did you leave then? Can't you create yourself some legs too?" Cross groaned at Allen's questions.

"I can, but I'm not like you. I can only be a human for so long." He briefed. Allen paused and took his chin in between his thumb and forefinger.

"You said...that silver tails can..." Allen trailed off, staring at his tail. Cross stiffened at Allen's words. "Maybe I can-"

"No! I am never going to the surface again!" Cross snapped, causing Allen to flinch. After realizing that he'd lost his temper, he sighed again and leaned back into his chair. "This may come as a shock to you, but I used to be in love...with a human." Allen's eyes widened and he sat up to stare at Cross bewilderingly. _What did he say...? __Am I just hearing things? _"She was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. We actually talked a lot and she was the reason I ever walked on land." Cross informed, glaring at Allen as if to dare him to say something smart.

"Why did you leave her?" Allen asked softly.

"She was a mermaid hunter." Cross grumbled. Allen gasped and held his hand over his mouth. _A mermaid hunter...? Why...that's just so...cruel...master loved her so much...is that why he usually chooses female mermaids over males? _Allen knew the last question was stupid and completely off-topic, but he wondered it anyways. "You know that book in my room about the truth of mermaids? Don't act like you haven't read it because I know you have." Allen winced. He didn't know Cross had a copy of _that _book...the only book he read in Cross' room was the one about the land...he still read the mermaid book nonetheless, even if it didn't belong to Cross.

"...yeah...but what does the book have to do with her?" Allen was almost too afraid to ask.

"It has everything to do with her. You'd understand if you knew who she was." Allen could tell that Cross was under a lot of pressure talking about this topic from the way he was blowing bubbles from his pipe.

"Who is she? Why did you leave her? What is her name?" Allen asked; he was just so confused. Okay, so he didn't see what her name had to do with it, but he was still curious about who she was. He only read one article so he probably wouldn't know her name...

"Her name is Anita."

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**Oh my god guys I apologize for all the puns I 'accidentally' wrote in here x3 Yay cliffhanger? I really had a hard time ending the chapter so I hope it isn't too bad...I was thinking later about having some fluffy Laven moments so if you have any ideas for those, I'll gladly use them!...yeah, that's all I needed to say...right...thanks for staying with me even though I've left you all off on so many cliffhangers! x)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heheh, when did I update this again? x3 I know it was around the beginning of the month...sorry, I've been quite busy with graduation coming up and all! So excited for that *A* no more school for me~ *giggles uncontrollably* that'll give me more time to update and get a hold of what the heck I want to do with my life x3 Anyways, I'd like to thank VeridianSoul, Gratsu-Dragon, Will of the Abyss - AllenxRoad, TOOLAZYTOLOGIN, and the Usagi-Twins (nice nickname x3) for reviewing! If anything in the last chapter confused you, I apologize. If it's about the orbs than that will be explained later, but if it's not...then I suppose leave it in a review and I'll explain? Thanks again for reading! ^w^**

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It had been a few days since Allen and Cross had been chased out of their home. They both went to go check it out that morning and it was still surrounded by sharks. It was odd, really...sharks didn't have the best intelligence so why would they stay at a place that they knew was empty? They were too dumb to know that Allen and his master would come back; however, they were still there. That being said, Cross had managed to make a new home out of the huge rock they had found a few days ago. Right now, Allen was running an errand for Cross. He felt so much more free now that Cross was letting him do whatever he wanted. He was actually the one sending Allen to the market above the surface today. The silver-tailed mermaid couldn't really explain it...but he felt more free than he'd ever felt before. He nearly jumped out of the water from excitement when he hit the surface, but he knew better than that.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself." Allen's heart skipped a beat and he spun around so quickly in the water it was inhuman. He felt his heart explode with something he didn't really know as he saw Lavi sitting there on his surfboard. Allen smiled at him. Lavi was taken by surprise at the smile on Allen's face...it was odd to say, but it really looked...well, _beautiful. _

"Good morning." Allen greeted, his smile widening. He could talk to Lavi however much he wanted now. Said prince almost fell off his board at the sight of the mermaid's beautiful smile.

"Mornin'." Lavi laughed when Allen had tried to balance the board out to keep him from falling off. "Where are you off to so early in the morning?" The redhead asked.

"The harbor." Allen replied, pointing over where the huge ship from earlier was docked. "I'm going to the market."

"The market?" Lavi questioned. Allen nodded to confirm Lavi's confused expression. He hummed and tapped on his chin.

"Perhaps...you could come with me? Oh! You don't have to since...you're...um..." Allen nearly forgot that Lavi was the prince of the kingdom here. He knew that back when he was a prince in his own kingdom that people would always surround him.

"Ah, so you've finally caught wind of that? Took ya long enough!" Lavi grinned. "Anyways, I would come with you, but I'm kinda..." Lavi gestured to what he was wearing and Allen stared at him for a long time, literally not getting it. He was always 'topless' to these humans, so why would it matter if Lavi did it? Did it make a difference because he was the prince? But when Allen was the prince, he went around topless...then again, not many male mermaids wore shirts anyways... "Half naked?" He guessed.

"...naked?" Allen repeated, his expression completely blank. Lavi couldn't help but burst out into laughter.

"Oh my god, that was so funny! Yeah, half naked. Maybe I'll come with you after I get dressed?" He suggested. Allen looked back to the rock where he came from. Cross _did _tell him to hurry up...

"Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to." Allen said. "I'm just running a quick errand for someone..." Lavi hummed in thought.

"Well, I haven't been out for awhile anyways." Lavi said with a smile. He started paddling his way back over toward the castle and Allen followed him until the water got a little too shallow that you could almost see his tail. "I'll be back out in a minute...you coming out of the water?" He asked with a chuckle. Allen shook his nervously. "If you say so. I'm gonna fetch a boat and paddle out to ya, okay?" Allen nodded and swam back out into less shallow water. It'd be bad if Lavi saw his tail...who knows, the redhead could have read the book as well. It took Lavi about ten minutes until he was paddling out on a boat. He paused and gave Allen a curious glance.

"So, how are you paying? Do you have a waterproof belt on you or something?" Lavi asked, laughing at the idea of Allen swimming shirtless with just pants and a belt on.

"I guess you could say something like that." Allen answered and Lavi deadpanned. "I was just wondering...is there a market where you exchange pearls?" Allen asked curiously, leaning his elbow on the boat, tilting it just a little.

"Pearls?" Lavi questioned. His face brightened. "That's right! General Tiedoll said that you gave him pearls instead of actual coins. Sounds like a lot of work gathering them, ya know?" Lavi sighed and leaned against the boat. Allen tilted his head and then reached for his bag of pearls. He pulled out the rather large rainbow pearl that he found before. He looked down at the pearl and then up at Lavi.

"Lavi..." Allen mumbled, catching the redhead's attention.

"Hm?" Lavi looked over and offered Allen a smile, which the younger mermaid returned. Allen offered out his hands and Lavi blinked in confusion. "What is it?"

"Open your hands." Allen instructed.

"What for?" He asked. Allen rolled his eyes.

"Just open them." The snowy-haired boy smiled. Lavi grinned at the boy.

"You know, Allen, if you wanted to hold my hand, you could have just asked." Lavi joked, causing the mermaid to light up in a cherry-red blush.

"B-but I wasn't..." He trailed off and Lavi started to laugh.

"I was just kidding." Lavi said with a grin and opened his hand. Allen stubbornly dropped the pearl in his hand and looked away. Lavi's eyes widened and he held the pearl close to his eye. He looked from the beautiful pearl to it's equally beautiful owner. "Is this...?"

"You can have it." Allen muttered, blushing deeper.

"Oh, Allen, you don't have to give this to me..." Allen shook his head at Lavi's words.

"I want you to have it." The mermaid confirmed and closed Lavi's hands around it. He then realized that he was basically holding Lavi's hands and blushed so deep his scar nearly disappeared.

"I knew you just wanted to hold my hand." Lavi said jokingly and Allen retreated his hands away.

"I was just...but...ah, um...we should probably get going now..." Allen said quietly and started swimming away. Lavi smiled.

"Thank you, Allen." He swore he saw the boy's ears reddening, but maybe it was just his imagination.

"Mhmm..." He hummed back. Lavi laughed and grabbed the oars to his boat and started to row.

"You don't want to ride with me? Even after all that effort to get me to go on a date with you?" Lavi questioned, his voice laced with humor.

"I d-didn't ask you on a date!" Allen defended. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me to the market..."

"Same thing." Lavi chirped.

"Is not!" Allen denied. Lavi rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Oh c'mon, what's so bad about going on a date with me? I'm the prince! _Everyone _wants to go on a date with me!" Lavi cheered, rocking his boat quite dangerously. Allen had to hold it steady to keep it from falling over. It'd be bad if he fell in the water and opened his eyes, only to see that the person in front of him was truly an extremely dangerous monster. Allen tried not to stare at the lopsided grin on his face and his sparkling left eye. Maybe it was just Allen's imagination, but Lavi seemed to be even more beautiful than when he first saw him...or perhaps it was his charming smile...Allen hadn't even noticed he spaced out until Lavi asked him a question. "So, you must be able to swim fast, right? I mean, when I've seen you, you're always swimming." Allen smirked.

"You have no idea." He replied and let a grin spread across his face when they had approached the harbor.

Lavi couldn't imagine anyone else who could get so excited just by seeing the harbor. Truthfully, Lavi found litter here and there occasionally and really, it was kind of a dump compared to the neighborhood he lived in. He supposed that maybe Allen lived on an island far out somewhere where everything was...well...different. Thinking that thought made Lavi a bit gloomy. It might sound ridiculous now, but could you imagine what would happen if they fell in love? They wouldn't ever be able to stay together because Allen wasn't royalty. Lavi shook his head; he had his entire life ahead of him, so what if he misses out on one person? There's a ton of fish out there in the sea as Tiedoll would say. Lavi had all the time in the world.

"Um, hello? You coming, Lavi?" Allen asked. Lavi blinked a few times and looked ahead to see Allen a few yards ahead of him.

_...when did he? _

"Uh, yeah! Hold on a minute, holy crap, you're fast!" Lavi exclaimed when Allen started swimming off. It was difficult to even stay within a few feet of Allen given the fact that he _really _wasn't bluffing when he said he could swim. Lavi had _never _seen anyone swim so fast. It made him think about how long Allen had actually been swimming. Did he swim here everyday? Once they were finally at the market, Lavi was out of breath and his arms hurt. He could only faintly hear Allen and Tiedoll greet each other.

"Good morning!" Allen greeted with a smile. Tiedoll returned the young boy's smile, which, mind you, brought many stares over to him from the passerby.

"Good morning to you, Allen! You seem to be in a good mood today-oh! I didn't even see you there, your majesty! Good morning to you as well!" Tiedoll smiled, dusting off his apron full of paint. Lavi waved the man off.

"Oh stop it with the your majesty stuff, just call me Lavi!" Lavi said with a smile.

"Nonsense! It's only right to greet you that way. So, what brings you to these parts?" Tiedoll asked with a warming smile.

"Oh, you know, the usual..." Lavi shrugged and then glanced over in Allen's direction. Tiedoll's eyebrows shot up and he looked over at Allen as well, who was cheerfully talking to Daisya about some new pearls he had found.

"Are you on a date, perhaps?" Tiedoll asked with a sly smile. Lavi snorted, there was no way Allen would say it was.

"Whatever floats your boat, old man." He chuckled and smiled at Allen when he gave the redhead an odd look. Allen seemed to think something over before dismissing it and shaking his head, returning to Daisya's excitement.

"Have you come to buy something?" Tiedoll asked, a shopper's gleam in his eyes. Lavi shrugged and carefully hopped off the boat and onto the ground where the small market stood.

"Depends...have any recommendations?" Lavi asked with a smile. Tiedoll glanced over at Allen to see the mermaid busy exchanging coins with Daisya. The boy seemed enthralled at the golden pieces, going so far as to hold it up to the light.

"I do have one. Here, come with me." Tiedoll instructed and headed to the back of his shop. Lavi curiously followed after him. "You know, Lavi..." Tiedoll mumbled once they were out of earshot from the mermaid. "...things are not always as they appear. I suggest you remember that." He said wisely.

"Jeez, now you sound like the old panda. Just come on and show me what you've got." Lavi hurried him, afraid that Allen would finish his errand and leave without him. It was fun to be around him, Lavi would admit that. He really couldn't explain why he liked the boy so much. He had a feeling that him and Allen could be great friends.

Great friends indeed.

"Here you are. I think it's time that you take a new look on something else." Tiedoll said and pushed a book into Lavi's hands. The teen's eyebrows raised and he looked at Tiedoll mysteriously.

"What's this? _True Love Can Be Found in a Mermaid's Tail?" _Lavi read the title aloud. Tiedoll nodded his head and looked anywhere but Allen so he wouldn't give Lavi any hints._  
_

"It's the same person who wrote _The True Dangers of a Mermaid's Tail." _She seems to like the pun about mermaids and their tails. Tiedoll chuckled quietly. "It seemed that after further research, she published this book shortly after her last one. You've read her last one, right?" Tiedoll asked. Lavi nodded his head with quite a serious expression on his face.

"It's really a shame. Mermaids are so beautiful, as well as their voice...it's too bad that they're dangerous." Lavi whispered the last part as he fingered the spine of the book thoughtfully. "Anita was so lucky to have met a mermaid in person. Wish I could do that." He added. "Well, anyways, thanks for the book!" Lavi smiled and placed the right change in Tiedoll's firm hand. He knew better than to try and give him more. He tried that once and the man went nuts on him and created a huge scene. "See ya around, General!" Lavi called and hopped onto his boat, nearly tipping it over. He was glad that Allen was there to steady it. "Thanks, beansprout."

"B-beansprout!?" Allen questioned. Daisya snickered and ruffled Allen's hair.

"He's basically calling you short." The brunette replied. "Don't worry, he gives a nickname to us all. You just better hope that the more embarrassing ones don't stick." He warned. Lavi stored the book away in the boat and sat down.

"So where are we off to next?" He asked.

"Oh, we're done here." Allen informed and Lavi raised his eyebrows.

"Eh? But we just got here!" He whined.

"Well while you were with Mr. Tiedoll, I swam by another place and got what I needed." Allen said and held up his full bag.

"...oh. Well, you wanna go somewhere else?" Lavi asked. Allen would've loved to say yes and go on a nice swim with Lavi, but he needed to get home to Cross before he was late for lunch (which he also had to catch, mind you). Allen shook his head and gave Lavi an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I need to get home." Allen apologized. Lavi waved him off.

"It's okay, perhaps we can go out another time?" He suggested. Allen averted his gaze into the sea at his shining silver tail. He knew he shouldn't get too close to Lavi...but wasn't he soon going to be able to walk on land anyways? Would it really matter to Lavi that he used to be a monster? Either way, Lavi was royalty...and when Allen would start his life on land, he'd be considered a peasant to Lavi and a _prince _would _surely _not want to be seen with a peasant.

"Maybe..." He muttered quietly and started swimming off.

"Hey, wait up!" Lavi called and started paddling quickly over to catch up. "See ya around, Daisya!" He shouted back to his childhood friend before hurrying after Allen, who didn't seem willing to stop even if only for a second. "Can you please wait up?" Lavi asked and Allen stopped swimming, looking back at Lavi with a confused expression. "Wow, you really _are _fast." The prince complimented. Allen didn't seem to accept the compliment and just shrugged. Lavi frowned at him. "What's wrong? You seemed cheerful just a few minutes ago!" Lavi mentioned, his voice laced with concern.

"It's nothing..." Allen mumbled and tried giving him a smile. Lavi smiled back and ruffled his hair.

"There's no need to be like that, sprout."

"The name is Allen." Allen mumbled, puffing out his cheeks. Lavi laughed and poked one of them.

"I know that, I'm just kiddin' around." He said with a grin. "Come on, chin up, Allen." Lavi said and reached down to move his fingers at Allen's sides, causing Allen to giggle and push Lavi away.

"C-cut it out, that tickles!" He laughed.

"That's the point!" Lavi continued with his tickle fight and Allen tried pushing him away. It was clear that Lavi's boat was about to knock over.

"H-hold on, Lavi, s-stop! I'm s-serious!" Allen warned, still laughing a bit from the tingling sensations shooting through his sides.

"Then why are you laughing?" Lavi asked, grinning as he stared down at the lovely smile on Allen's face.

"B-because you won't stop!" Allen shouted childishly and pushed against Lavi's chest. "Y-you're gonna t-tip your boat over!" Lavi stopped tickling and quickly tried retreating back into the boat. He didn't want to get his new boat soaked. Lavi managed to get the boat upright again, but in the process he fell into the water and clung onto Allen for dear life. "I t-told you!" Allen snapped and tried to get his tail away from Lavi's legs.

"Oh, Allen a little water won't hurt any...one..." Lavi trailed off and froze when he felt scales gliding across his skin as he roamed his hands up from Allen's waist. "...Allen...this is..." He mumbled and looked up, only to see Allen's face full of guilt. Allen darted his eyes over to Lavi in a cautious way, afraid of the prince's reaction. It was then that he saw fear in the redhead's eye that he pushed him away and started backing away from him.

"Lavi, I...I...I'm sorry..." He mumbled and dove into the water; his silver fin was the last thing that Lavi saw.

"Allen, wait!" Lavi called, but it was too late.

Allen was long gone.

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**So the next chapter will be in Lavi's POV (not first person, I can't write those well). Just a heads up, I guess. Well, I hope you enjoyed the fifth chapter and I hope you all will continue to stay with me! ^-^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning: there's a time skip somewhere in the middle of the chapter. I graduated yesterday so I'm gonna have a lot more time on my hands now! :3 of course, I have three different stories to take care of so the update still might be a little slow for all of them. It'll mostly depend on my mood what gets updated next! Anyways, I'd like to thank xXlovinlavenXx, Guest, ARandomAuthor14, VeridianSoul, Usagi-Twins, FallenxLinkin, Allen WalkerCrown Clown, and Annabeth2011 for reviewing!**

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After waiting in the boat for what seemed like the longest time, Lavi slowly paddled back to the shore. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Allen was a _mermaid. _A _mermaid. _He'd been hanging out with a _mermaid! _He could have been killed! If Bookman found out...he'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble. As Lavi tied up the small boat to the dock they owned, he paused. Did General Tiedoll know? Thinking about the man, his eyes darted over to the book Anita had written and he picked it up. He narrowed his eyes at the book. Tiedoll...sold this to him...wasn't too much of a coincidence that Tiedoll had sold that to him knowing that Allen was there as well? Lavi looked back to the harbor that was quite a ways away and then looked down at the book. Tiedoll _had _to know...but if he did, then why did he trust Allen? If Allen wanted something from him, couldn't he just kill Tiedoll for it?

_Unless Allen isn't like the other mermaids..._

That thought hadn't really struck him at all. What if Allen was _different _from the mermaids? But then again, what if he was trying to play nice to get them on his good side so he could go behind them and kill them? Bookman had always told him to be careful dealing with the sea because of the sharks, poisonous fish, and mermaids out there...the old man always said that he knew everything, and he said that there hasn't been one mermaid case where the creature was trying to be nice to them. _Well at least it explains why Allen is so beautiful. Anita said that all mermaids you run into are beautiful...she also said that the gender for mermaids don't matter...all genders in the species can have babies; but I wonder...would the baby be born a mermaid or a human? Even she didn't know the answer to that one. And if there aren't any cases of mermaids being nice, then how did she get to know one so well without being killed? Maybe...in this book..._Lavi looked down at the book.

Perhaps he could find his answers here...

The redheaded prince walked down to the end of the dock and sat down, kicking his sandals off so he could dip his feet in the water. The sun was starting to set, but food really wasn't on his mind, despite that he hadn't eaten at all today. Instead, his mind wanted to just know everything about mermaids now that he had met Allen. Lavi opened the front cover and almost skipped through the prologue had Anita not mentioned a mermaid. She too admitted that the mermaid she met was a guy who would always stay in the water and never come out. He would use his 'skills' as a mermaid to flirt with many girls there but Anita was a young woman that was really busy and found it dumb to waste her time with the man when he tried talking to her. Apparently, a long time had passed by and she found herself walking by the man and having talks with him. She explained that she didn't even know he was a mermaid until he confessed it to her. Being a mermaid hunter, she didn't know how to respond and she later told him to just stay away. But, the man explained that it was already too late and that he had fallen in love with her. The prologue ended there (which actually made Lavi quite irritable since it left off with a cliffhanger and he _hated _cliffhangers) and Lavi flipped to the first chapter:

_True Love at First Sight_

_Mermaids are beautiful, yet odd creatures. In many legends, it is told that a mermaid's beauty has helped it out of situations with hunters and even gods. As the legend goes, only a real mermaid is beautiful (whether they're half-breed or not) and can get any human to fall in love just by smiling or even singing. In truth, mermaids are just like humans in a way. Their race talk to each other just as we do and even have similar ways of dates. Going to the surface is forbidden to mermaids and there are many reasons why. One of the reasons is because it's dangerous, but another reason is because if they see a human for the first time, they automatically fall in love with them. The love they feel cannot be erased, even if they do not know of it. If a mermaid feels love towards one of the humans, it can be seen watching the human from afar or admiring them often. Even if the human, to others, is very unattractive and has a terrible personality, as long as it is the first human the mermaid saw, the mermaid will love the human forever, even if it is told that the human hates it. _

"Love at first sight? Isn't that kind of cliche?" Lavi wondered aloud.

He kept reading and was starting to get quite bored when Anita rambled on about _why _they did that. It had to be because of some chemical within their tail that recognized the human as it's superior or something like that. He didn't really understand it and actually found himself skipping a lot of paragraphs for the first time in his life. As he neared the end of the first chapter, he thought about Allen. Who did Allen see first? Didn't this book say that it was forbidden for the mermaids to go to the surface in the first place? Lavi sighed and looked around, noticing that the moon was reflecting in the water. _How long has it been? _The prince wondered incredulously. Honestly, Lavi wanted to find this Anita person and confirm what she was saying. Was she writing this for the hell of it or was it really true? He looked up and instantly pulled his feet out of the water when he saw a shark fin.

Lately, there have been more shark sightings; which was why Lavi hadn't been surfing as much as he used to. The sharks that populated their island were very rare and dangerous sharks called Akuma. Legend has it that the sharks are born inside a mermaids corpse, which is why they were so strong. The Akuma inherit the strength of the mermaid and grow even stronger as they age. This being said, they were much more harder to kill and Lavi saw on the news once that an Akuma had to be stabbed by a harpoon thirteen times before it was actually killed. They also said that the Akuma wasn't even fully grown yet. They were becoming more tedious and were stronger and faster than some mermaids. The only mermaids that the sailors believed to be able to defeat the Akuma were silver-finned mermaids.

"Wait..." Lavi muttered and narrowed his eyes. Wasn't Allen's tail silver? Or was it just a darkish white? Lavi closed his eyes and remembered the look of fear and guilt that had plagued Allen's expression when he outwardly showed the fear in his eyes. He felt ashamed that he had shown Allen he was scared of him...after all, what if people were scared of _him? _He'd feel terrible...Lavi sighed and watched the shark circle around in the water. The redhead narrowed his eyes. _Why is it even hanging around here? _He wondered and backed away from the dock just in case the shark tried jumping out of the water at him.

_"Allen!" _Lavi's eyes snapped open and he looked around. Where did that even come from? It sounded almost like it echoed from...the water? The shark moved towards the voice and Lavi then realized why the shark was circling the water in front of him...it was chasing after something..._or someone! _The teen quickly stood up and leaned over the wooden bridge. "Oi, kid! Get your head away from the water, are you an idiot or something?!" Lavi looked up and tilted his head to see a man with long, red hair in the water staring at him as if he was an idiot...which he probably looked to be...

"Er...okay...?" Lavi sat up and stared at the man. _Didn't Anita say she was in love with a mermaid with long red hair? Then again, there are probably a lot of mermaids with long red hair..._the man with red hair gave him an odd look before looking around for what Lavi might have thought was the shark. _Then again, this guy could always be a shark hunter, or a scuba diver...not all the people in the water are mermaids. _Lavi reminded himself. _Not to mention there is more than just one person in the world with the name 'Allen.' _

"Kid, you should probably leave." The man snapped. Lavi frowned and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Why should I? This is _my _property and _you _are breaking the rules by crossing it." He remarked.

"Tch, brat." The man muttered and reached his hand under the water to grab a hold of something. "I'm leaving anyways." He scowled and swam off quickly. Lavi looked around and noticed that the shark was gone. _What's up with that? _He wondered and grabbed his book as he stood up. The prince made his way back to the palace and laid in his bed, many thoughts swirling in his head. One question remained on his mind:

Would Allen come back?

* * *

A few weeks had passed since Lavi had found out about Allen's secret and the white-haired mermaid was nowhere to be seen. Lavi had actually asked General Tiedoll about him a few times and the man said that he came to the harbor everyday...but didn't Allen pass through his shore to get to the harbor? Things for him weren't looking up and Bookman was starting to press brides on him. He really didn't want to get married yet - he was too young for that! He wanted to just sit back and enjoy life how it was until he was ready for love. All in all, Lavi felt that he would just be more relieved if he saw Allen again. If he saw him then he could apologize about doubting him...but then again, shouldn't he doubt Allen?

Yes, the mermaid seemed like a good person, but many 'good people' tended to stab you in the back. He wanted to be friends with Allen, but he didn't want to risk getting himself killed. It was a shame that Allen was a mermaid, because if he was a human, Lavi would definitely hang out with him a lot. He was a funny person, he was polite, kind, and even cheerful from time to time. Lavi had only gathered his personality from their date and he seemed like a good person...if only he was a human, though...the sullen thoughts were disbanded when he saw a small boat enter the area. It was Komui and it seemed as if he was getting back from an island he ventured to by himself. There were many small islands around this one, after all. But, what had truly caught his attention was Allen, who seemed to be swimming alongside the boat.

_So...Komui and Allen have met? Doesn't Allen know he's scientist? Isn't he scared? How can he trust a human so easily when we can barely trust his kind? _Lavi was left to wonder as Komui and Allen smiled at each other. Allen pulled something out of the water and it looked to be some kind of net. Komui excitedly took it into his hands and Allen laughed. The older of the two pulled out a knife to test it's durability and was quite delighted when the net didn't break. The atmosphere around the two seemed to be quite cheerful...until the man from last night appeared. He didn't appear right away; Allen was dragged underwater and resurfaced with him. The glare on the redhead's face was truly petrifying. He held his arm out to protect Allen from the man.

"I wonder who that man is...is he Allen's father?" Lavi said aloud as he watched Komui and Allen both try to explain their friendship. Lavi stood up from the shore where he sat on the sand and quickly walked into their rather large shed, pulling out his surfboard. He needed to talk to Allen. If Komui and General Tiedoll trusted him, then he should too and he needed to let Allen know that.

As Lavi paddled over there, he noticed clouds loom overhead, darkening the light around him. Allen looked up confusingly and the redheaded man seemed to be on edge from the sight. Komui frowned and spoke under his breath. That was when the youngest of them spoke to what Lavi guessed to be his guardian and the man scowled in return. As Lavi neared closer, he heard the boy plea to the man and it took him around five minutes to actually get the man to agree. By the look on Allen's face, even that seemed to be impossible. The guardian and Komui disappeared and only Allen was left.

"Yo! Get out of the water!" Lavi froze and turned behind him to see Daisya waving his hands around wildly. He looked at Allen and noticed that the boy hadn't even heard the shouting boy despite his good hearing. "Hurry! There was an Akuma sighting five minutes ago! You know how fast those things are?! Come on!" The brunette shouted and Lavi nodded at him. He turned his head back to Allen worriedly. Both teens froze to their spot whenever they saw the peculiar shark swimming towards him quickly. Lavi let out a strangled cry and fell off his board. "LAVI!" Daisya called, catching Allen's attention.

"Lavi?" He whispered and looked over. His eyes widened when he saw a shark near the board Lavi would surf on. He swore his heart stopped when he saw blood rise from the water.

Quickly, Allen swam over and almost felt relief wash through him when Lavi had climbed on his board. Almost. He could feel his heart speed up quickly when he saw blood spill out of Lavi's leg. Thinking for Allen didn't even seem possible anymore as he raced over to Lavi and tackled him off the board before the shark could jump up and eat him. In the process of saving him, the shark nipped Allen's tail, but the boy didn't cry out. He didn't even feel the pain, right now the adrenaline coursing through his veins seemed to be telling him to get Lavi out of there. Daisya was already running to the palace and calling for Bookman to get out there since he was a doctor.

Bookman came sprinting towards the shore and almost gaped at what he saw. For Bookman to even gawk was a rare sight and he felt like doing so when he saw a mermaid swimming around and away from the Akuma, which were starting to appear from all sides. A few seconds later, sharks had circled around the two. Bookman knew that it was just smarter for the mermaid to let Lavi go and dive deep in the sea and swim away; to be honest, that was exactly what Bookman thought he'd do. Allen held his breath and took the left band off of his arm to morph it into a weapon and swam towards the shark in front of him, ignoring the sharks around him that tore into his tail. He completely shredded the shark in front of him to pieces and quickly swam out of the other sharks' grasps and to the shore. Once on the shore, Allen put the band back on and collapsed on top of Lavi. The two before him were left to stare in shock. The mermaid was bleeding from all sides and could barely move because of it.

Despite his state, Bookman knelt to Lavi's side and pulled the mermaid off of him, receiving a whimper from the creature. His eyes widened as the wound started healing. Bookman narrowed his eyes and realized that the blood that was everywhere wasn't Lavi's...it was Allen's...he watched as the mermaid's blood dripped onto Lavi's wound and it completely closed up. He dropped the creature in surprise and Lavi slowly opened his eyes. "Ugh...what...?" He groaned and looked at the shocked faces of Bookman and Daisya. "What...?" He repeated and sat up, feeling a weight on his chest. He looked down and shouted with surprise when he saw a twitching and bloody mermaid on top of him. Allen whined at the shifting and trembled.

"Allen is..." Daisya whispered softly and stared at the boy before him. The brunette looked between the gawking relatives and flipped. "He's going to die if he doesn't get help!" He scolded, snapping them out of their daze. He had a point and Bookman shifted his gaze from Lavi's body to Allen's and gently touched a rather deep would on his tail. The young mermaid cried out and clenched Lavi's shirt tightly. The pain that was evident on Allen's face lightened up and he slowly opened dull gray eyes. They were half-lidded, and he managed to look up to see Lavi's worried face. His eyes twitched and threatened to close but he kept them open and slowly pushed himself off of Lavi.

"D-don't move, Allen, you're hurt." Lavi said and moved forward but Allen inched away from him. He looked between the three of them fearfully and darted his eyes around to find a way out of this. The pain was settling in fiercely, causing him to fall back down on the sand and curl up into a ball. _When mermaid's pass away, they curl up and wait for death to come..._Lavi remembered those words from Anita's book and shook his grandfather, demanding him to help out.

"Let go of me, boy!" Bookman snapped but walked over to the mermaid before him. "Come here." He instructed and Lavi walked over. "Pick him up. We need to move quickly." Bookman said and Lavi quickly held the mermaid in his arms, wincing at the red liquid that spilled onto him. Daisya followed anxiously until he realized that he needed to tell his father about what happened. "Put him there." Bookman said, pointing to a rather large coffee table.

"Gramps...his tail is getting dry." Lavi informed worriedly. Bookman nodded and told him to go get some seawater from the shore. As quickly as he could, Lavi retrieved a bucket and came back, spilling a lot on the way.

"Be careful with that!" Bookman snapped as he applied cream to Allen's tail carefully. The boy spurred to life and wailed loudly, thrashing around.

"What are ya doin'?!" Lavi shouted and held Allen down to keep him from hurting himself.

"I don't know, I'm not a mermaid specialist!" Bookman shouted back.

"Don't put it on his tail then! He still has human skin, don't he?" Lavi asked.

"Actually, Lavi, it's 'doesn't' not-"

"Gramps! This isn't the time for that!" Lavi scorned and the old man growled but nodded. He looked around and spotted the large aquarium they used for their seawater fish.

"Pick him up again." He said and Lavi nodded, obeying his grandfather's words. He sweat dropped at Bookman's idea but place Allen's bottom half in the tank. The boy visibly relaxed a little and Bookman tended to the top part of him, bandaging up his abdomen and his right arm, eyeing the left arm mysteriously. He finished bandaging his neck and put his kit away. All three of them relaxed and Allen was now sleeping soundly in the tank. Lavi was trying his best to ignore the pink-tinted water, but it really didn't sooth his nerves. "If it's bugging you that much just get the filter from storage." Bookman growled as he rubbed his temples. "I honestly can't believe you, hanging out with such a dangerous creature..."

"I didn't even _know _what he was until a few weeks ago! This is the first time I've seen him since then too!" Lavi reasoned as he walked out of the room and into another nearby room. He returned with the filter and sweat dropped when he saw Bookman studying his fins. He had two smaller ones attached to his sides and two triangular shaped ones near the end. Lavi plugged the filter up and placed it inside the tank. Within a few minutes, the water was clear and Allen's injuries had stopped bleeding. The injuries on his tail weren't as bad as the ones on his torso. Allen shifted on his side in the water and laid his head against the side of the tank. "How is that even comfortable?" Lavi found himself questioning aloud as he stared down at the boy.

"Are you seriously wondering about that? How about thinking about more important things, like what's going to happen when he wakes up!? He could try and kill us for taking him away from the water! Do you know how much danger you just put us in?!" Bookman scolded.

"I don't think he'd hurt us. After all, he can't go back if he does. Plus, he's not a violent mermaid; honestly, I think he's just more scared of us." Lavi said quietly.

"Whatever, Lavi. You're in charge of this thing. I have a lot of work to do. Don't you dare get yourself killed over him." His grandfather growled before leaving the room. Lavi continued to stare at Allen for awhile. He sighed and took a strand of Allen's silky hair through his fingers.

_Why did you risk your life for me?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: Another timeskip in here, sorry. It's just by a few *cough* many *cough* hours though! Many thanks to Allen WalkerCrown Clown, TOOLAZYTOLOGIN, VeridianSoul, ARandomAuthor14, and Just A Kid With Too Much Time for reviewing! In this chapter, 'The 14th's Melody/The Musician' is sung and I do not own it (obviously) so disclaimer on that one! And, without further adieu, here's the next chapter! I feel like this story is going to be a bit shorter than I expected and I apologize deeply for leaving you guys off with yet another cliffhanger xD**

* * *

Lavi didn't know how long he waited for Allen to wake up. It was probably three o' clock in the morning right now and he was just waiting. Allen had been sleeping since yesterday and Lavi was starting to get worried that he wouldn't wake up soon. His grandfather scolded him for missing out on his tutoring, but honestly, Lavi just wanted to sit here and wait until Allen woke up so he could thank him and assure him that he wasn't going to hurt him. Still, the question from yesterday blazed in his mind and Lavi tried willing it to just go away and leave him alone already since it was putting even more thoughts into his head.

_Why did you risk your life for me, Allen? _

He thought again and felt his consciousness slipping. Standing up, Lavi walked over to his bed and collapsed on it. Maybe just a little nap wouldn't hurt...besides, it wasn't as if Allen could get out of the tank and if he _did _manage to get out of the tank, he couldn't walk anyways. He was a mermaid, after all. So, with that thought in mind, Lavi closed his eyes and slipped off into his own dream world. Just as he fell asleep, the mermaid in the tank stirred. He didn't awaken-not yet, but his wounds made him shift in his sleep. Bookman had actually put the fish back in the tank and they swam around, nesting on Allen's fin. Mermaids were the fish's greatest friends after all...even if they did eat them...they nipped at his scales and rested between his fins.

The silver-finned mermaid woke up around ten o' clock that morning. He ached in several places, especially his back, and shifted to try and get comfortable. That was when he felt the cramped walls of the tank around him. _Ugh...so sleepy...wait...where am I? _Allen wondered and narrowed his brow in thought. It was then that the events from yesterday zoomed through his mind and he snapped his eyes open. He looked around and quickly spotted the tank he was in. _What the...what...is this? Wait...humans keep fish as pets...they're not trying to keep me are they?! _Allen struggled around and found a cup. If he managed to break out of this tank, he didn't want the exotic fish to die...it'd be such a waste...so, he took the cup and ordered the fish to go inside. They swam in and he put it on the shelf before wiggling with all his strength. He winced slightly at the wounds that threatened to open up.

Allen rammed into the side of the tank forcefully and it successfully fell off and hit the floor with a loud smash. The tank didn't break, but it did crack. He crawled out of the glass and looked towards the bed to see that Lavi was still sleeping. The teen clutched his abdomen with pain before rolling on his back. _Crap...I didn't even think about how I was going to get out of here after getting out of the tank...it isn't like I can walk or anything...but then...didn't Cross say that I can transform my fins into legs? I've studied human book so I know how their anatomy goes, but...will I really be able to use that knowledge here? And when I do, won't I be naked naked? Like, humans have to cover their bottom half...and girls have to cover their tops too. _Allen thought. _Maybe the curse will just work on it's own somehow..._he thought and narrowed his eyes to focus on the bottom half of his fins. He made sure to make some shorts out of the substance inside of his fin before transforming.

Surprisingly enough, the curse _did _work on it's own and Allen grew legs. He marveled at the sight and quickly looked to the bed to make sure Lavi was still sleeping. Seeing that the coast was clear, Allen tried standing up...and fell right back down. _Standing up is harder than it looks...how am I supposed to walk? _Allen winced and grabbed a hold of a rail, lifting himself up and wobbling around to catch his balance. _It's just one foot after the other, right? _Allen remembered seeing humans around town walk before..._if the kids can do it, then I can do it..._and with that thought in mind, Allen desperately clung to walls to make his way around the castle. It was really hard finding the way out because one, there were maids that could've spotted him and two, he had no idea where he was. Not only that, the place was huge.

A couple of hours passed before Allen finally found himself safely outside. His new legs hurt and he found himself crawling to the shore. He transformed his legs back and waddled in the water, feeling free when he finally managed to get in. _I wonder where Cross is...is he okay? _Allen wondered as he looked around for sharks. He swam back to the rock that they had been in and sighed with relief when he saw the light corals on. He then swam to the cave and peeked his head in to see Cross drinking that human stuff from his wine glass. _Gee and I thought you'd be looking for me, thanks Cross. _

"...Master?" Allen called out and blinked when Cross dropped his glass inside the bubble.

"...Allen?" Cross asked and got up from his chair.

"...um...hi..." Allen greeted awkwardly, swimming inside the cave.

"Christ, kid, what happened to you?" Cross asked and gestured to the bandages on his stomach.

"Well...when you left there was a shark...and it attracted more sharks...and..." Allen trailed off and Cross narrowed his eyes.

"Couldn't you have come back to the rock?" Cross asked.

"Well, I _could've..." _He said and looked away. "But...there was a person in the water...and I couldn't leave him there..." Allen mumbled. "Anyways...after I got him to the shore I passed out because I was injured really badly and I couldn't exactly see straight." Allen informed.

"You passed out in front of _humans?!" _He shouted and Allen winced.

"Well, yeah...and I woke up in a...glass of some sort..." He said uncertainly, wondering if that's really what they kept their pet fish in. "And then I managed to get out of whatever the thing was and I...walked..." He said the last part quietly.

"So I didn't need to teach you how to grow your own legs after all..." Cross muttered and sat back on his couch. "You could've stayed, you know." Cross said, looking away from his apprentice. "Technically, I've trained you enough. You could've stayed with those people until you could find a home." Allen soaked in Cross' words before shaking his head.

"I think living on the surface would be fun, but...I belong here. I mean, it's not like I can just find a house like that. Humans have prices and stuff and while I could sell my pearls, I don't really know much about bargaining or anything like that...I think I'll stay here for now..." He decided and swam out of the cave. "I'll come back later!" Allen shouted and Cross shouted back a 'don't come back, ya twerp!' but Allen knew that he was only kidding.

The mermaid swam to the house underwater that he made for himself and hummed. He smiled at the bright idea in his mind and inhaled as much water as he could before blowing a huge bubble around the small underwater house. Satisfied, Allen swam over and poked his head through the bubble that barely covered the window and crawled inside. He hummed and grabbed his bag before swimming out of the bubble, gathering some water, and swimming back in to fill up the small pool inside. Allen wanted to shout with excitement now that his house was finally finished. He swam out of the house again and surfaced the island, piling all his things from the small island inside his bag and taking them inside his home. After organizing his things, he relaxed in the small pool.

_Now what? _

* * *

"LAVI!" Bookman screeched, waking the redheaded prince from his slumber.

"Huh?" Lavi muttered, rubbing his eye.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SLEEPING?!" The old man shouted.

"Gee, gramps, show a little mercy will you? I stayed up til three..." He grumbled.

"I TOLD YOU TO WATCH ON THE MERMAID, DID I NOT?!" Bookman didn't even care if anyone could hear him.

"Well, yeah, but I was really really tired...why are you freaking out anyway-oh shit." Lavi whispered, seeing the tank spilled over. "Oh man...oh crap...this _isn't _good. Where could he have gone?!" Lavi looked around the room but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Damn it, Lavi. You _will _find him!" Bookman snapped and stormed out of the room to look for a place that Allen could've hid in.

_I thought he couldn't survive outside of water without his tail being completely intact! Doesn't he know it's dangerous to just crawl around like that, especially with maids everywhere?! Oh man, maybe one of the servants saw him? Crap...this really isn't good...what if he's already...NO! Don't think like that! _Lavi shook his head and nearly slipped when he ran across the wet floor out the door. He flung every door he came across open. _He couldn't have gone far! Oh no, this really isn't...what the heck...? _ Lavi lifted his bare foot off the wet floor and narrowed his eye at the floor and was just about to call the janitor until he saw a trail of water. He looked around before following the trail. He could tell that it was from Allen, seeing as the trail had no idea where it was going. It passed by three ways to get outside before it finally left outside. Lavi looked behind him and trotted down the path, following the tracks as quickly as possible. They stopped in the sand and the ocean had already washed the tracks away. Lavi narrowed his eye and crouched down in the sand.

_...footprints? _

According to the book Anita wrote, humans _couldn't _walk. So then...how could Allen? Were they really even his tracks to begin with? Then again, he can't imagine why anyone else in the castle would be so wet they'd be tracking water everywhere. None of this made sense. Allen was a mermaid...so then how could he walk? Lavi looked out the window and sighed. It was already starting to get dark out. Maybe he could check the water? Allen seemed to be swimming on the surface a lot because the water pressure below slowed him down...so, Lavi walked (sneaked) out of the castle and got in his boat. The sun had long since gone down and Lavi really had no idea where he was going. Honestly...Lavi didn't even know where he was...All he could see was a huge rock a few meters away. It was then that the moon chose to shine down on the rock and Lavi's breath hitched at the figure that sat upon the rock. He stopped paddling and just stared at the beautiful mermaid for a long time. _Since when has Allen been this beautiful? _His thoughts ceased when Allen opened his mouth and a beautiful melody in another language escaped from his lips.

_"Soushite bouya wa nemuri ni suita_  
_Ikidzuku hai no naka no honou_  
_Hitotsu futatsu to_  
_Ukabu fukurami itoshi yokogao_  
_Daichi ni taruru ikusen no_

_Yume yume_

_Gin no hitomi no yuragu yoru ni_  
_Umare ochita kagayaku omae_  
_Ikuoku no toshitsuki ga_  
_Ikutsu Inori wo tsuchi he kaeshitemo_  
_Watashi wa inori tsudzakeru_  
_Dou ka kono ko ni ai wo_

_Tsunaida te kissu wo"_

Lavi just stared in awe. It was all he could really do. Allen's voice was so hypnotizing. It just made him want to come closer and listen to the melody flowing through his lips. The mermaid stopped singing and Lavi noticed that tears were slowly falling down his face...he felt a bit like he was protruding Allen's personal space, but he also felt like he had to comfort the boy. So, Lavi paddled closer. He stopped in front of the rock, but he didn't know how to make himself known to the somber boy. _Maybe I could just clear my throat...? _Lavi thought and attempted doing so. In the end, he ended up calling out Allen's name.

"...Allen..." He whispered. Even though his whisper was quiet, Allen's sharp ears heard him and his head snapped over to him. He looked ready to jump back in the water at any time now. "...w-wait!" Lavi called and climbed out of his boat and onto the rock. He was lucky that Allen actually stopped his plan of leaving. "Um...I'm sorry for listening in but...that was really beautiful..." Lavi complimented, earning a blush from Allen.

"Thank you...my father taught it to me..." Allen said softly and looked up at the moon.

"Your father? You mean that redheaded guy that was with you?" Lavi asked. Allen wondered briefly how Lavi had met Cross, but instantly shook his head at Lavi's assumption.

"Of course no-...I mean...no, not him. He's my master." Allen informed and Lavi stared at Allen for a long time, telling himself over and over that it wasn't _that _kind of master. "He's the one who teaches me. My father was murdered when I was little..." Allen said quietly. He didn't really like to talk about it.

"I'm sorry..." Lavi felt like apologizing for bringing it up. "I bet he was a great man." Lavi added and Allen nodded with agreement.

"He was...a king." Allen said quietly.

"A king? Then you're a prince?" Lavi asked. Allen shrugged his shoulders.

"You could say that, but I was framed for murder so I was banished from my kingdom...which is why I can come on the surface...because I've already been banished, it isn't like they can punish me anymore..." He mumbled bitterly.

"Oh...it must've been hard for you..."

"Not really..." Allen sighed and looked away. "I wasn't his biological son. I was taken in from the streets and Mana was going to die anyways because he was deathly ill. He was just died early...but even before that, people thought that I was a nuisance. Dirty blood if you will. I was picked up from the streets...some of them even said that I was the reason he got sick in the first place...but Mana was so kind...and I was so little...I guess...it was selfish of me to stay..." He murmured, tears prickling the sides of his eyes.

"I don't think so." Lavi couldn't believe his own words coming out of his mouth. "I think you're perfect." He said with a smile. Allen gave him a sad smile back.

"...thank you..."

"So, anyways...um...I wasn't trying to catch you if that's what you thought..." Lavi mumbled, not taking his eyes off of Allen. Allen frowned at him.

"Why was I in a tank then?" He asked.

"Well, you needed water and it was the only thing we could find...I wanted to thank you." Lavi said, changing the topic.

"Thank me?" Allen questioned and Lavi nodded.

"Thank you for saving me, Allen. But I've got to ask...why did you do it? You could've escaped without a single scratch...but you saved me...why?" Lavi asked. Allen hesitated with his answer.

"Because..." He trailed off and Lavi gave him a gesture to keep going.

"Because...?" The prince asked invitingly.

"...I love you..."


End file.
